Suryakumar Yadav surpassed Virat Kohli to become Indian with most PoTM awards in T20Is. (Express photo by Narendra Vaskar & FILE)
India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, delivered a match-winning performance to begin the T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, rescuing his side from a precarious position against the USA with a classy 84 not out. His innings powered India to a competitive 161 for 9 after they had slumped to 77 for 6, securing a 29-run victory for the Men in Blue in their Group A opener in Mumbai on Saturday. His game-defining knock helped Suryakumar become the Indian with the most Player of the Match (PoTM) awards in T20I cricket.
In his 105th T20I, the former world No. 1 T20I batter claimed his 17th PoTM award, surpassing Virat Kohli’s tally of 16 PoTMs in 125 matches.
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For months, the Indian skipper had endured a lean patch, but he consistently maintained that he was “only out of runs and not out of form.” That assurance proved true as he regained his form ahead of the World Cup, scoring three half-centuries in a recent five-match T20I series against New Zealand. He now has four fifties in his last five T20I innings.
The all-time record for most PoTM awards in T20Is is held by Malaysia’s Virandeep Singh, with 22 awards in 111 matches. He is followed by Zimbabwe’s all-rounder and captain Sikandar Raza with 19 in 127 matches, then Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli.
This was Suryakumar’s fourth PoTM award in T20 World Cup, the second most by an Indian after Kohli’s eight.
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