Gautam Gambhir lauds Suryakumar Yadav: Time to put him in Test cricket

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir lauded star Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav for his explosive century in the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka and said that the time has arrived to put him in Test cricket squad.

Suryakumar Yadav's blistering knock of 112 combined with a clinical performance of bowlers helped India register a thumping 91-run win over Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I to clinch the three-match series 2-1 here at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday.

"What a knock @surya_14kumar! Time to put him in test cricket! #SKYscraper," tweeted Gambhir.

Suryakumar notably has a fantastic first-class cricket record playing for Mumbai. In 79 matches and 132 innings, he has scored 5,549 runs at an average of 44.75. He has scored 14 centuries and 28 half-centuries, with best score of 200.

With his unbeaten third T20I century, star Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav rewrote the history books during the third and final T20I of the series against Sri Lanka and became the fastest player to reach 1,500 runs in the shortest format in terms of balls taken.

Suryakumar Yadav took only 843 balls to reach this landmark in T20I cricket, the fastest among all players.

He is the third-fastest to reach the 1,500-run mark in T20Is in terms of innings. The fastest batters to reach the landmark are Indian batter Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Australian veteran Aaron Finch and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who all took 39 innings to score 1,500 runs in T20Is.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan reached the milestone in 42 innings and Suryakumar did so in 43 innings.

Suryakumar Yadav is also the first-ever player to reach the landmark with a strike rate of 150 or more.

In 45 matches and 43 innings, he has scored 1,578 runs at an average of 46.41. He has three centuries and 13 half-centuries in the format, with the best individual score of 117 and a strike rate of 180.34.

Suryakumar also smashed the second-fastest century by an Indian batter in T20Is, taking just 45 balls to bring up his third century in the shortest format.

The fastest T20I century by an Indian is by skipper Rohit Sharma, who nailed a 35-ball ton against Sri Lanka in 2017.

This batting star now also has joint second-highest centuries in T20Is. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has four T20I centuries, a record. He is followed by Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Maxwell of Australia and New Zealand's Colin Munro, who have three centuries each.

With this win, India has captured the three-match T20I series by 2-1.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. After Men in Blue lost Ishan Kishan (1) early, a quick cameo from Rahul Tripathi brought back some momentum to the innings. He scored 35 off just 16 balls, with five boundaries and two sixes. Shubman Gill was the anchor throughout.

Following Rahul's dismissal, India was already beyond the 50-run mark in their powerplay.

Suryakumar Yadav continued his red-hot form, smashing Lankan bowlers left and right. Gill was dismissed for 46 off 36 balls, ending a quickfire 111-run stand in just 53 balls.

Suryakumar brought up his third T20I ton in just 45 balls and ended the innings at 112* off 51 balls, with seven fours and nine sixes. Axar Patel (21*) also provided a nice cameo to power India to 228/5 in their 20 overs.

Dilshan Madushanka (2/55) was the pick of bowlers for visitors. Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kasun Rajitha got a wicket each.

Chasing 229, openers Kusal Mendis (23) and Pathum Nissanka (15) provided a good start to the visitors and they scored 44 in 4.5 overs before Axar trapped Kusal.

Following this dismissal, Lanka could not bounce back into the game and lost wickets consistently. Only Dhananjay de Silva (22) and skipper Dasun Shanaka (23) crossed the 20-run mark.

Lanka was bundled out for just 137 runs in 16.4 overs. Arshdeep Singh (3/20) impressed with the ball after an off-day at work in the 2nd T20I. Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal and Umran Malik took two wickets each while Axar got one.

Suryakumar was adjudged as 'Man of the Match' for his match-winning ton.

The three-match ODI series between both sides will start from January 10.

(ANI)

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