da supremo： No other batter in T20I cricket has combined consistency (batting average) and aggression (strike rate) like Suryakumar
da dobrowin： Shiva Jayaraman26-Jan-2023Suryakumar Yadav has lit up the T20I format like no other batter before him. While Suryakumar’s three hundreds and 13 fifties – in just 43 innings – is impressive, what’s more incredible is that he has an average of 46.4 while striking at 180.3. strike rate is too high to be accompanied by the consistency which that average represents. T20 batters are either attacking or consistent. They are very rarely both at the same time; even if they are, they aren’t for as long as Suryakumar has managed to be.Let’s put those numbers in perspective. Andre Russell scored 627 runs at a strike rate of 168.1 in 43 innings from 2014 to 2021. This was the highest strike rate achieved by a batter before Suryakumar over a period as long as his, in terms of innings. But Russell averaged only 21.6.Suryakumar has benefited from playing a lot of T20Is within two years of his debut, though, that too while being in prime form. Most other batters have had T20I appearances spread over longer periods. So the vagaries of time are likely to have affected the form of batters such as Russell.A fairer comparison would be with Jos Buttler. In his last 43 innings, Buttler has averaged 45.1 striking at 151.5. That is the highest strike rate for any batter other than Suryakumar who averages 45+ across 43 innings in T20Is. Suryakumar’s strike rate is nearly 19% better than Buttler’s in this time frame. That’s how rare it is to pair an average of 45+ with a strike rate of 180+ over an extended period.ESPNcricinfo LtdImportantly, this incredible run of form hasn’t come scoring easy runs. Suryakumar has bailed India’s batting out on a few occasions now, scoring in conditions and against attacks that the other India batters have struggled to score off.Take the 2022 T20 World Cup match against South Africa. On a fast, bouncy pitch in Perth, and against some of the fastest pacers in the game, Suryakumar hit 68 from 40 balls. The other India batters managed just 57 runs off the other 80 balls. Suryakumar struck runs at 170, while the other India batters had a combined strike rate of just 71.25.Since 2018, batters from Full-Member teams have averaged a little more than 23.5 and scored at a strike rate of 128.7. Based on these numbers, we could possibly assume an average of 25 and a strike rate of 130 is par for the course in T20Is in the last-five years.Since Suryakumar’s debut, there have been seven occasions when India’s batting – excluding him – has underperformed on both counts of average and strike rate (averaged below 25 and scored at a rate below 130) in T20Is. He has scored 441 runs at an average of 88.2 and a strike rate of 196 in these matches, inclusive of two of his three hundreds. His contribution to India’s totals (runs off the bat only) in these games has been a whopping 40.5%.In 15 matches when India’s top order has underperformed in terms of average only, Suryakumar has scored 770 runs at an average of 64.2 and a strike rate of 184.2. His contribution has been 31.9%. In another 15 matches when India’s top order has underperformed in terms of strike rate only, he has scored 852 runs at an average of 77.5 and a strike rate of 186.4. His contribution in these matches has been 36.7%.