India captain Suryakumar Yadav's T20I hundred against South Africa put him on an even keel with Rohit Sharma and sparked an epic meme fest on Twitter, now X.

 

With India 1-0 down in the three-game series, the Men in Blue needed to win the third and final fixture at the Wanderers Stadium and to ensure their victory, Suryakumar Yadav led from the front, hitting a 55-ball hundred, his fourth in T20Is.

 

The India skipper wasn't in his element during the initial phase of his knock. But once he found his rhythm, there was no looking back as he took the South African bowlers to the cleaners, striking eight sixes and seven fours during his century in Johannesburg.

 

His fourth ton in the 20-over format put him at par with regular India captain Rohit Sharma and dashing Australian batter Glenn Maxwell. Glenn Maxwell and Rohit Sharma have the same number of centuries as Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is.

 

Notably, Suryakumar Yadav is the fastest to make four tons in T20Is. While he required 57 essays to get there, Rohit Sharma took 79 knocks to complete four centuries, and Glenn Maxwell needed 92 to reach the landmark. 

 

Suryakumar Yadav's blistering knock guided India to 201/7 before Kuldeep Yadav did the rest for the visitors.

 

On his birthday, Kuldeep Yadav took 5/17 to complete a lop-sided 106-run triumph for India, with the series finishing at 1-1.

 

But more than Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav hogged the spotlight due to his power-packed performance against the South African side.  

 

In the previous match, 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.

 

In the post-match presentation ceremony, Suryakumar Yadav was delighted to have scored a hundred in a winning cause for India. 

 

“It was wonderful scoring a hundred, and especially when it comes in a winning cause. One box we wanted to tick was play fearless brand of cricket. Really happy the boys showed a lot of character. Kuldeep is never happy with a three-for or a four-for. A perfect self birthday present,” he mentioned. 

 

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav noted that Surya's century was the perfect present for his birthday.

“I think it was Surya bhai's batting. That was the biggest gift. He batted brilliantly. The way he was batting was great to watch because the pitch was not that easy for batting. It was really a treat to watch him bat,” Kuldeep Yadav mentioned. 

 

“It turned out to be a special day. I have never thought about taking five wickets. I just wanted the team to win which is more important. I was concerned about my bowling because I was playing after some time, so wanted to get my rhythm. It was perfect today. The ball was coming out well from the hand and the conditions too suited the spinners a bit,” he added.

 

“To be very honest, the wickets are very good for the spinners. The good thing about these wickets are that the ball comes very quickly after pitching. So sometimes, you have to vary your variations and if you get it right then it is very difficult to pick,” the left-arm spinner explained.

 

“In 2018, I was very new and after that, couple of years I struggled with my injury and post surgery I came back and made a few changes in my bowling, especially in my run-up. Trying to be more aggressive and just trying to bowl much straighter and focusing on length,” Kuldeep Yadav pointed out.

 

“Starting was really difficult. The first 7 to 10 days were really tough. Whenever I woke up, the thought of losing the World Cup final was haunting me. But life changes and moves on. I got an opportunity to play in South Africa, I last played here in 2018 so I knew the conditions well. In cricket what you want never happens and you have to learn from them and implement those in future matches,” he summed up.