Five Indian Male Cricketers who Stole the Show in 2022

The class of Virat Kohli, emergence of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik’ comeback, Shreyas’ consistency across format, or Arshdeep Singh’s arrival. Indian cricketers owned the 2022 calendar with a series of spectacular performances, and continued the rich legacy of India’s dominance in world cricket.

While the year 2022 comes to an end, The Quotes list out five Indian Cricketers who stole the show in 2022, and hogged most of the limelight.

Suryakumar Yadav:

The 32-year-old had a late, but dream arrival at the international stage. In just one-year-old international career, Suryakumar Yadav rose to fame due to his unique batting style, and ability to smash boundaries and maximums with utmost ease.

The Mumbai Indians batter made his T20I debut for India in March 2021 and swiftly climbed the ladder of success. SKY will end 2022 as the leading run-getter in T20Is – 1164 runs in 31 games at an average of 46.56 and an exceptional strike rate of 187.43. Both his T20I tons were scored in 2022, that too away from home.

The newly appointed vice-captain in T20Is, played several memorable knocks in 2022, including unbeaten 111 off 51 vs New Zealand and 117 against England. Top-seeded batter (T20Is) was arguably the most impactful Indian player in 2022.

Virat Kohli:

If SKY made most of the impact, Virat Kohli was a man of big occasions in the year 2022. The year started for the former skipper on a dull note as the team lost a Test series against South Africa under his leadership and he gave up his Test captaincy. Soon after, he was sacked by the BCCI from ODI captaincy.

Shocking turn of events pushed the legend in the corner as he found himself logging head with the then BCCI president Sourav Ganguly over lack of communication ahead of the leadership transition. The 34-year-old also went through a horrific IPL 2022 season where he added three ducks to his credit. That was the story of the 1st half of 2022.

2nd half of 2022: After a month-long break, Virat marked his comeback with a bang as the Delhi boy went on to smash his maiden T20I century and long-awaited 71st during the T20 Asia Cup. He finished Asia Cup as the second highest run-getter with 276-runs in five matches, including one century and two 50s.

The batter went extra miles in the T20 World Cup in Australia, as he didn’t just play a magical knock of 82* against Pakistan in the opening game but ended the ICC tournament as leading run-getter, with 296 runs to his name, at a sensational average of 98.66. Kohli smashed four fifties during the course of the tournament.

He finished the year on high as the legend surpassed Ricky Ponting as the second most centurion at international stage with 72 International centuries, after he slammed his 44th one-day international century at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram against Bangladesh.

Hardik Pandya:

The likely future white-ball captain had a memorable 2022. IPL title as a debutant captain (Gujrat Titans) followed by comeback in Indian Cricket and consistent match-winning performances.

In 27 T20Is, and 25 innings this year, Pandya has scored 607 runs at an average of 33.72, with three half-centuries and the best individual score of 71*. He has also scalped 20 wickets this year. In 3 ODIs, he has scored 100 runs in two innings, with the best score of 71*. He has also taken six wickets in the 50-over format this year.

Not to forget, Pandya also got the opportunity to lead the side against Ireland, West Indies and New Zealand. He is all set to lead the squad against Sri Lanka in T20Is, and has been appointed as vice-captain in the ODIs vs SL.

Shreyas Iyer:

The Kolkata Knight Riders captain is slowly scripting his own legacy in Indian cricket. The year belongs to him as the batter has been pretty consistent across formats. In 8 Test innings this year, Iyer scored 422-runs at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 90.

The batter was equally prolific in the 50-over format as he scored 724-runs in 15 innings. He also scored his maiden ODI ton this year by scoring unbeaten 113. Iyer started the year in the shortest format quite remarkably as he mustered 57, 74 and 73 in three consecutive matches (all unbeaten), against Sri Lanka. In 17 T20I innings, Iyer scored 463 runs at a strike rate of 141.14.

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Arshdeep Singh:

The left-arm pacer claimed two of the best T20I batters -Babar Azam on the very first ball and Md. Rizwan in next over- in his maiden appearance at the T20 World Cup, in Australia. In 21 T20 Internationals, the lanky pacer took 33 wickets at an average of 18.12, providing breakthroughs both with the new and old ball.

The left-arm pacer was also the leading wicket-taker for India. In just six months of international debut, Singh has earned the nomination for the Emerging Cricketer of the Year by ICC.

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