Fans flooded Twitter with memes after India skipper Suryakumar Yadav struck a blistering half-century against South Africa in the second T20I in Gqeberha.

 

During his explosive batting display of 56 off 36 balls, Suryakumar Yadav completed 2000 runs in T20I cricket, joining Virat Kohli as the fastest Indian to reach the milestone.

 

Virat Kohli, the leading run-scorer in T20Is, took 56 innings to touch the milestone of 2000 runs in the shortest format. Suryakumar Yadav required the same number of knocks as Virat Kohli to have 2000 T2OI runs under his name.

 

Suryakumar Yadav is the joint-third quickest to 2000 runs in T20Is behind former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his teammate Mohammed Rizwan, who got there in 52 knocks.

 

Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav follow the Pakistani duo on the list.

 

In terms of the least number of balls taken to complete 2000 T2OI runs, Suryakumar Yadav is the fastest.

 

The India batter needed 1164 balls to get to 2000 runs in T20Is, surpassing Aaron Finch of Australia, who required 1283 balls to accomplish 2000 runs.

 

Despite Suryakumar Yadav's record-breaking knock and Rinku Singh's unbeaten 68 off 39 balls, India lost the match to South Africa by five wickets after rain interrupted the game. 

 

As the D/L method brought down South Africa's target to 154/5, South Africa managed to cross the line, thanks to Reeza Hendricks' quickfire 49 off 27 balls. 

 

Nonetheless, India's attacking brand of cricket earned rich plaudits from the legendary Dale Steyn, who backed Suryakumar Yadav and his boys to make a comeback in the next match of the T20I series on Thursday.

 

“India bowled really well. They were unlucky at times. They had fielders in the right places. You saw having a second slip that showed you that the ball was doing a little bit. Um, but it's the boundaries, you know, and and and these conditions when the field is a little bit wet and that little bit of dew, it's not dew, but they're in the rain comes down, it makes the ball a little bit skid on and everything, that does make batting a little bit easier,” Dale Steyn told Star Sports.

 

“So at the end of the day, when you look back at an India probably got the wrong end of the stick. They lost the toss and then they had the ball in the more difficult conditions. It's not a game that they can really delve deep into and say we lost it here, we lost it there,” he added.

 

On the other hand, 1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar was in awe of India batter Rinku Singh, who played a crucial role in India's score of 180.

 

Though Rinku Singh's innings couldn't ensure India's win, his clean hitting impressed everyone, including Sunil Gavaskar, who compared him with India's 2011 World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh.

 

“Talent – it's not given to everybody. You can love the game. You can play all day, but sometimes you know you might not quite have the talent, but he has the belief that he could do it, and that's what he's done over the last 2-3 years. Again here in the IPL, he was in and out of a lot of teams when he finally got the opportunity and the way he grabbed it (was amazing),” Sunil Gavaskar said during a discussion on an Indian sports network. 

 

“And now he's part of an India team. And now there's so much, so many high expectations of them. They are now expecting him to be another Yuvraj Singh. Rinku Singh – Yuvraj Singh. So if you can do even a fraction of what Yuvraj did for Indian cricket, then he will have done wonderfully well,” he explained.

 

Meanwhile, India captain Suryakumar Yadav underlined that his side would continue to play the aggressive brand of cricket they showcased in Gqeberha.

“I think it was a par score, but they batted beautifully in the first five-six overs. That's the brand of cricket we were talking about. The message was loud and clear. It was a little tough [to bowl], but I told my boys were out of our comfort zone. Mood in the camp is always happy, and full of cheer, because I've said whatever happens on the ground, leave it on the ground. Really looking forward to the third T20I,” Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presentation ceremony. 

South Africa skipper Aiden Markram credited opening batter Reeza Hendricks for his team's triumph against India.

“Nice start. Great crowd pulled in here tonight. I thought the wicket was initially on the slower side. From the batting point of view, it skid on a bit. The rain helped us a little bit. The bowlers tried hard, and bowled incredibly well. They come up with their own plans… Hendricks has been fantastic. He's adopted a bit of a leadership role in the batting. Ultimately you want to pick form players for the World Cup, so from the selection point of view, there might still be a few places up for grab. That healthy competition means a lot for us,” Aiden Markram noted.