Not Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli, this batsman is India's biggest hope of winning T20 World Cup

The stage is set for the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to begin this Sunday. India are among the favourites to land their second T20 WC in the seventh edition of the tournament. The Indian contingent has a star-studded lineup comprising star veteran batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and explosive youngsters like Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. However, the one batsman who is expected to be crucial to India’s hopes of lifting the trophy is Suryakumar Yadav. 

The 32-year-old right-handed batsman nicknamed SKY is a late bloomer who burst onto the scene only last year. Yadav’s short international career has been phenomenal. In just 33 T20Is, SKY has scored 1037 runs at an average of just under 40 with one century and 9 half-centuries. But what makes him the main man to watch out for in this year’s T20 World Cup is his supreme performance in the format in 2022. 

In supreme form all across the year, Yadav has scored over 260 runs more than any other team India batsman this year. In 23 innings, he has 801 runs. On the second spot is Rohit Sharma, with 540 runs in the same number of innings while Kohli, who has seen a revival of sorts, lies at third with 485 runs in 14 innings. 

One more aspect that makes SKY pivotal to India’s fortunes is the mind-blowing strike rate with which he bats. No other batsman comes close to his 184.56 strike rate in 2022. And finally, Yadav also rules the roost in another important stat for the shortest format of the game: sixes. At 51 sixes in his 23 innings in 2022, SKY has 23 more than skipper Rohit Sharma and more than double of any other of India’s top batsmen. 

These states prove how important the Mumbai Indians star is for India in the upcoming World Cup. If India is to have a successful campaign and lift the trophy, Suryakumar Yadav is going to prove crucial. And if that happens, he might even pick up the accolade for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the tournament. Here are some stats comparing SKY’s form in 2022 with other top Indian batsmen:

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