Suryakumar Yadav has been in explosive form throughout 2022, and the kind of belligerence that he brought to the table in the shortest format of the game was a prime example of how great he has been in recent times. The year 2022 saw SKY bagging 1164 runs, the highest for any batter in the year, scored at a strike rate of 187.43 and an average of 46.56.

More importantly, Virat Kohli forged a crucial partnership with Surya, as the duo of SurVir reigned supreme. The RCB opener stayed witness to the carnage first hand while he settled comfortably at the other, bringing out the big guns when needed.

The combination of SurVir has amassed 535 runs in 11 innings. Five of those incredible stands came during the recently concluded World Cup that also comprised an unbeaten 95-runs partnership against the Netherlands.

In one such partnership when Surya went berserk and started peppering the bowlers to all corners of the park, Virat walked up to him and had a word or two, trying to calm him down while India’s run-cascade kept on flowing at an unstoppable speed.

In an interview with the Indian Express, Surya said, “Once I was batting with Virat (Kohli) bhai, and he came and told me, ‘Are you playing video games? You are at a different level.’ It felt nice to hear these things.”

He also talked about how his Mumbai Indians skipper has told him to embrace his innovative game, an aspect that sees this young man unfazed even in the face of sheer jeopardy. SKY added, “Rohit (Sharma) is the only one who has seen me for a very long time. But this season, he saw so many knocks that a time came when he didn’t tell me anything. In a few games, he said, ‘Now I don’t have anything to say about you’”.