India vs New Zealand 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav entered his name in the history books as he marked his 100th appearance for India during the first T20I match against New Zealand, which is being played at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday, January 21. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first in the opening game of the five-match series.
Suryakumar has become only the fourth Indian to play 100 or more T20I matches as he joined the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in an elite list. In his 99 games so far, Suryakumar Yadav has piled up 2,788 runs at an average of 35, having made his debut for India in 2021 during a home series against England. The right-handed batter is the third top run-getter for India in the T20I format after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
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He has 21 fifties and four hundreds to his name, and will equal Rohit for most tons for India with one more. The series against the Blackcaps will be a huge opportunity for the Indian skipper to capitalise, given his recent poor form with the bat. He has scored 748 runs since taking over as captain, scoring at an average of just 23.37.
Most T20I Matches for India
Rohit Sharma (2007-2024): 159 matches
Virat Kohli (2010-2024): 125 matches
Hardik Pandya (2016-): 125 matches
Suryakumar Yadav (2021-): 100 matches
MS Dhoni (2006-2019): 98 matches
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Suryakumar took over as India's captain in 2024 after Rohit Sharma retired from the format following India's T20 World Cup title win a couple of years ago. India haven't lost a T20I series under Suryakumar's captaincy, and the Men in Blue will be looking to continue their incredible form in the shortest format of the game and defend their title successfully in the upcoming edition of the World Cup. During the first T20I against the Blackcaps, India decided to bench Kuldeep Yadav as Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube made it to the lineup.
"We were looking to bowl first because we felt there was dew around 8.30 during our practice. But we don't mind putting runs on the board, and we have done well batting first. Shreyas, Harshit, Bishnoi and Kuldeep are the ones who are missing out," Suryakumar said at the toss.
India vs New Zealand 1st T20I Playing XIs:
India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy