SKY nominated for T20I Player of the Year award

India’s batting maverick Suryakumar Yadav has been nominated for ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Year award for 2023. The right-handed batter, known for his 360-degree strokeplay, had won the award in 2022 for scoring 1164 runs in the format, thus becoming the first Indian to achieve the honour in this category. Apart from him, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza, Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani and New Zealand’s Mark Chapman have earned nominations for the award. In 17 T20I innings, Suryakumar scored 733 runs at an average of 48.86 and strike-rate of 155.95 to dominate run-scoring in the shortest format. His first T20I knock of the year was a mere seven against Sri Lanka, but he shined in the next two matches with scores of 51 (36) and 112 not out (51) in Pune and Rajkot respectively. An innings of 83 (44) against the West Indies in Providence, Guyana, in August was followed by a knock of 61 (45) in Lauderhill, Florida, USA. Suryakumar also went on to take the T20I leadership role of a young India side towards the end of the year. He made half-centuries against Australia (80 off 42 balls) and South Africa (56 from 36 balls), before posting a century off just 56 balls in India’s final T20I of the year in Johannesburg. Raza, meanwhile, was consistent with bat in hand across the year in the T20I format, making at least 20 in nine of his 11 innings across the year. He amassed 515 runs in 11 innings, at an average of 51.50 and strike-rate of 150.14. With his off-spin bowling, he took 17 wickets at an average of 14.88 and economy rate of 6.57. Ramjani was a nightmare for batters with his left-arm orthodox, taking 55 wickets in his 30 T20I outings, the most among men’s players in the format across the year. His knock of 40 from 26 against Zimbabwe was the most crucial innings, as it led to a shock victory over them on their path to 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup Qualification. Chapman, the New Zealand batter, was swashbuckling with the bat