Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20: Best XI of the tournament

Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai)

81*, 20*, 57, 22, 28, 10, 94* and 80. 392 runs at an average of 56 and a strike-rate of 169. The only batsman to score 350+ runs in two consecutive seasons of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, that too at a strike-rate of 140+. It is fair to say that Mumbai’s Suryakumar Yadav is at the peak of his powers in the shortest format of the game.

Yadav joined the elite list of Indian cricketers to rack up a minimum of 300 runs in an edition of SMAT at an average of 50+ (56) and a strike-rate of more than 150 (168.96). He is also one of the four Indian batsmen after Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rishabh Pant to score 1000+ runs (1176 runs in 37 games in 2019) at an average in excess of 40 and a strike-rate of 145+.

No wonder, there were calls for him to be picked in the Indian team ahead of the T20 World Cup next year. With him making consistent contributions, the call-up might be just a few matches away as the Men in Blue are set to play a lot of matches in the near future.