Statsman: SKY reaches 100 sixes in T20Is, joins Rohit and Virat in exclusive club

A 100 for SKY

3 The number of Indian batters to hit 100 or more sixes during their T20I career. In the third match of the series against the West Indies in Providence on 8 Aug 2023, Surya Kumar Yadav emulated Rohit Sharma (182 sixes) and Virat Kohli (117 sixes) by registering his 100th six for India in this format. He also became the 14th player in T20I history to hit 100 or more sixes during a career. Among these 14 players, Surya Kumar is the second most frequent six-hitter in T20 internationals. Only West Indian Evin Lewis has taken fewer balls to hit a six in his T20I career. On average, Lewis takes 8.68 balls to hit a six, while Surya Yadav does it every 10.25 balls.

Most frequent six hitters in T20Is (Min 100 sixes)

Balls/6	Batter	For	6s	M	Inns	Runs	Ave.	S/R
8.68	Evin Lewis	WI	111	53	52	1465	29.89	151.97
10.25	Suryakumar Yadav	Ind	104	53	50	1841	46.02	172.70
10.30	Colin Munro	NZ	107	65	62	1724	31.34	156.44
11.14	Chris Gayle	WI	124	79	75	1899	27.92	137.50
13.49	Glenn Maxwell	Aus	106	98	90	2159	28.40	150.97

Note: Evin Lewis took 42 innings to reach the 100th six of his career, while Chris Gayle and Surya Kumar needed 49 innings to get theirs. Lewis needed just 789 balls to hit his 100th six, Colin Munro took 963 balls, and Surya Kumar Yadav reached his 100th six in 1007 balls

2 The number of international cricketing sides which have the distinction of playing in 200 or more T20I matches. India became the latest entrant to do so during the first match of the series against the West Indies in Tarouba on 3 August 2023. Pakistan (223) is the only other side to achieve this landmark in T20I cricket on 25 Sep 2022, when the home side beat England in Karachi by three runs. India has, so far, played in 206 matches.

India’s results in each of its landmark T20I matches

Match#	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
1st	South Africa	Johannesburg	1 Dec 2006	Won by 6 wickets
50th	Australia	Mirpur	30 Mar 2014	Won by 73 runs
100th	Ireland	Dublin	27 Jun 2018	Won by 76 runs
150th	Namibia	Dubai	8 Nov 2021	Won by 9 wickets
200th	West Indies	Tarouba	3 Aug 2023	Lost by 4 runs

177 The batting strike-rate achieved by Tilak Varma during his innings of 39 in 22 balls in the Tarouba T20I match on 3 Aug 2023. This knock is now the fastest by an Indian debutant in T20I cricket. However, Surya Kumar Yadav and Rinku Singh have achieved higher batting strike-rates than Varma when they first batted in a T20I. They both did not get the opportunity to bat in their debut T20I match (see next table).

Highest batting strike-rate by an Indian on T20I debut
(min 25 runs)

S/R	Runs (balls)	Batter	Against	Venue	Date	M Inns	Result
177.27	39 (22)	Tilak Varma	West Indies	Tarouba	3 Aug 2023	2	Lost
175.00	56 (32)	Ishan Kishan	England	Ahmedabad	14 Mar 2021	2	Won
156.41	61 (39)	Ajinkya Rahane	England	Manchester	31 Aug 2011	1	Lost
147.61	31 (21)	Rahul Dravid	England	Manchester	31 Aug 2011	1	Lost
130.00	26 (20)	Parthiv Patel	West Indies	Port of Spain	4 Jun 2011	1	Won

S/R	Runs (balls)	Batter	Against	Venue	Date	M Inns	Result
183.87	57 (31)	Surya Kumar Yadav	England	Ahmedabad	18 Mar 2021	1	Won
180.95	38 (21)	Rinku Singh	Ireland	Dublin	20 Aug 2023	1	Won

4 The number of occasions India could not chase a target of 150 or less in T20I cricket. The Tarouba match on 3 August 2023 was its latest unsuccessful attempt to better such a target set by its opponent.

Unsuccessful run chases by India while chasing targets of 150 or less

Opponent (winner)	Total	India’s reply	India lost by	Venue	Date
New Zealand	126/7	79/10	47 runs	Nagpur	15 Mar 2016
South Africa	130/5	118/8	12 runs	Nottingham	16 Jun 2009
Zimbabwe	145/7	135/9	10 runs	Harare	19 Jul 2015
West Indies	149/6	145/9	4 runs	Tarouba	3 Aug 2023

5 The number of Indian batters to register an individual fifty in T20I cricket before the age of 22 years. In the T20I match in Providence on 6 August 2023, Tilak Varma became the second youngest Indian batter to register a fifty in T20I cricket. Later, during the series, his team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal joined this elite group in Lauderhill on 12 August 2023. Jaiswal also became the youngest Indian opener to register a T20I fifty.

Youngest Indian batters to register a fifty in a T20I match

Age	Batter	Runs (balls)	Against	Venue	Date	M Inns	Result
20y-143d	Rohit Sharma	50* (40)	South Africa	Durban	20 Sep 2007	1	Won
20y-271d	Tilak Varma	51 (41)	West Indies	Providence	6 Aug 2023	1	Lost
21y-38d	Rishabh Pant	58 (38)	West Indies	Chennai	11 Nov 2018	2	Won
21y-227d	Yashasvi Jaiswal	84* (51)	West Indies	Lauderhill	12 Aug 2023	2	Won
21y-307d	Robin Uthappa	50 (39)	Pakistan	Durban	14 Sep 2007	1	Tie+

+ match won by India via a bowl out

Note: Not listed above is Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 65 in 42 balls against West Indies in Providence on 6 Aug 2019 at the age of 21y-306d.

Youngest Indian opening batters to register a fifty in a T20I match

Age	Batter	Runs (balls)	Against	Venue	Date	M Inns	Result
21y-227d	Yashasvi Jaiswal	84* (51)	West Indies	Lauderhill	12 Aug 2023	2	Won
22y-41d	Rohit Sharma	52* (45)	Ireland	Nottingham	10 Jun 2009	2	Won
22y-239d	Ishan Kishan	56 (32)	England	Ahmedabad	14 Mar 2021	2	Won

Note: **Jaiswal faced the first ball of the innings

** Ishan Kishan was on debut

6 The number of bowlers to claim their 50th wicket in 30 or less matches during their T20I career. India’s left-arm wrist spinner (LAWS), Kuldeep Yadav, against the West Indies in Providence on 8 August 2023, became the latest to join a list of bowlers by doing so in the 30th match of his career. Among the Test-playing nations’ bowlers, only Sri Lankan Ajantha Mendis (in 26 games) and Ireland’s Mark Adair (28 matches) have reached the landmark in fewer games than Kuldeep. For India, only two bowlers, other than Kuldeep, have achieved this landmark in less than 35 games. Arshdeep Singh did it in 33 games in the recent T20I match in Dublin on 20 Aug 2023. He thus became the quickest among pacers to do so for India.

Quickest to claim fifty wickets in a T20I career (in fewest games)

M	Bowler	For	Bowling style	Achieved on	Against	Venue	Result
22	Dhruv Maisuria	Botswana	RLB	29 May 2023	Eswatini	Benoni	Won
25	Syazrul Idrus	Malayasia	RM	30 Jul 2023	Myanmar	Kuala Lumpur	Won
26	Ajantha Mendis+	Sri Lanka	ROB	4 Oct 2012	Pakistan	Colombo RPS	Won
28	Mark Adair+	Ireland	RFM	20 Oct 2021	Sri Lanka	Abu Dhabi	Lost
29	Sandeep Lamichhane	Nepal	RLB	14 Feb 2022	Ireland	Al Amerat	Lost
30	Kuldeep Yadav+	India	LAWS	8 Aug 2023	West Indies	Providence	Won

+ player from a Test playing nation

Note: For the record, spinners Imran Tahir (South Africa) and Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) have achieved their landmarks in 31 games

Quickest to claim fifty wickets in a T20I career (in fewest games for India)

M	Bowler	Bowling style	Achieved on	Against	Venue	Result
30	Kuldeep Yadav	LAWS	8 Aug 2023	West Indies	Providence	Won
33	Arshdeep Singh	LFM	20 Aug 2023	Ireland	Dublin	Won
34	Yuzvendra Chahal	RLB	20 Nov 2019	Bangladesh	Nagpur	Won