India captain Suryakumar Yadav was under the scanner after following his poor run of form in T20I cricket. He was struggling to get going and following which, questions were raised about his spot in the playing XI. However, the team management backed him through thick and thin and Suryakumar too believed in his abilities and changed the fortune. Ahead of the first T20I, he spoke on batting well in the nets and in the second game in Raipur, he went berserk, smacking an unbeaten 82 runs off 37 balls to help India secure a seven-wicket win.
After losing two crucial wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, India were put on the backfoot but Ishan Kishan managed to bail the team out with some ruthless shots. The southpaw made 76 runs off 32 balls before the Suryakumar show began. With the help of his nine boundaries and four maximums, India won the game with 28 balls to spare.
Suryakumar, meanwhile, has moved closer to 3000 runs in T20I cricket. He currently stands with 2902 runs in 95 innings at a strike rate of 164.23. He is the third-leading run-scorer for India in the shortest format of the game, and is only 1329 runs short of Rohit Sharma’s record. Given his current form and that he is just 35, which means the Mumbai batter can play at least three more years, Suryakumar will surely eye the major record.
Most runs for India in T20Is:
| Player | Runs |
| Rohit Sharma | 4231 |
| Virat Kohli | 4188 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 2902 |
India take 2-0 lead in the series
India had given a break to Jasprit Bumrah in the match, while Axar Patel was ruled out with injury. Their absence allowed New Zealand to establish their authority in the middle, as the visitors posted 208 runs on the board. Rachin Ravindra and Mitchell Santner were the star performers, scoring 44 and 47* runs, respectively. They failed to bridge partnerships and that is arguably where New Zealand struggled the most.
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