Suryakumar Yadav will have an opportunity to break a huge record of Virat Kohli in the third T20I of the five-match series against Australia on Tuesday. The number 1 T20I batter could become the fastest Indian to score 2000 runs in the format if he gets an opportunity to bat against Australia in Guwahati. Suryakumar is 60 runs shy of achieving the milestone. In 52 T20I innings, he has scored 1940 runs. On the other hand, Kohli had reached the landmark of 2000 T20I runs in his 56th innings.
It is worth noting that if Suryakumar reaches the milestone of 2000 T20I runs in the third match against Australia on Tuesday, he will narrowly miss out on the world record of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who both achieved the feat in 52nd innings.
India currently lead the five-match series against Australia 2-0 and they will aim to take an unassailable lead in the T20I.
After near-flawless batting performance in back-to-back games, the new-look Indian team would like to keep its foot firmly on the pedal on a Barsapara Stadium track that has traditionally been a batting belter. And there is no reason to think that the 22-yard strip is any different this time also.
The 40,000 spectators, expected to fill up the stands, would expect a run-feast from the talented Indian batting unit, which would want to add to the 36 boundaries and 24 maximums it has collectively hit across the two games.
For Australia, some of their senior players like Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa have been in India for nine weeks and fatigue is showing. They need considerable rest before their next assignments.
All the four will play in Big Bash League next month. For Smith, the Pakistan Test series would be his next international assignment.
The Squads: India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
Australia: Matthew Wade (captain), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.
(With PTI Inputs)