India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav etched his name into the record books on Saturday by becoming the Indian with the most Player-of-the-Match (PoTM) awards in T20 Internationals, surpassing the legendary Virat Kohli. The milestone came during India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A clash against the United States at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, where Suryakumar’s unbeaten 84 off 49 balls, featuring 10 fours and four sixes, helped India recover from a top-order collapse and post a competitive 161/9. India went on to defeat the USA by 29 runs.
Record-Breaking Achievement
With the Player-of-the-Match award from that game, Suryakumar’s tally in T20Is now stands at 17, overtaking Kohli’s mark of 16 such awards for India. Impressively, he reached the milestone in just 105 T20I matches, while Kohli had taken 125 matches to achieve his total.
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Suryakumar’s rise up the charts reflects his consistent impact in the shortest format, where his unorthodox yet highly effective batting has frequently shifted the momentum in India’s favour.
Match Summary
Opting to field first, the USA struck early as Abhishek Sharma departed without scoring. Ishan Kishan (20 off 16) and Tilak Varma (25 off 16) stitched together a brief 37-run stand before Shadley van Schalkwyk (4/25) removed both batters. India then slumped to 77/6, with Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, and Hardik Pandya failing to make an impact.
Suryakumar, however, stood firm, producing a superb unbeaten 84 off 49 balls (10 fours, four sixes) to lift India to 161/9. For the USA, Harmeet Singh (2/26) and Mohammad Mohsin (1/16) delivered impressive four-over spells. In reply, the USA were reduced to 13/3 early as Siraj (3/29) and Arshdeep (2/18) struck with the new ball. A fighting 58-run partnership between Milind Kumar (34 off 34) and Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37 off 31) revived hopes, but regular wickets ensured the chase never truly gathered momentum.
