Suryakumar Yadav

🏛 Mumbai Indians IPL Since 2012 • 2 Franchises 👑 India T20I Captain 🤯 Mr. 360°
SKY

Suryakumar Yadav

Right-hand Bat • Middle Order • Born 14 Sep 1990, Mumbai

The man who redefined T20 batting. SKY's 360-degree strokeplay — scoops over fine leg, ramps over keeper, switch-hits, lap shots — has no blueprint and no weakness. From a duck on debut in 2012 to India's T20I captain and IPL MVP in 2025, his is one of the great late-bloomer stories in cricket history.

4,311 Career Runs 166 matches
148.9 Career SR Middle order
717 Best Season 2025 — IPL Record
3 IPL Titles KKR 2014, MI 2019 & 2020
Career at a Glance All IPL Seasons
35.3 Batting Average Career (middle order)
181.1 Best Season SR 2023 (605 runs)
103* High Score vs GT for MI, 2023
31 50+ Scores 29 fifties + 2 centuries
Runs by Season 2012 – 2025
🎯 Season-by-Season Run Tally
Bar width proportional to career-best 717 (2025, all-time non-opener record). DNP = did not play (2013). Team shown alongside each year.
2012 MI
Duck on debut
0
2013 MI
DNP
2014 KKR
🏆 IPL CHAMPION
164
2015 KKR
46 off 20 vs MI
196
2016 KKR
154
2017 KKR
94
2018 MI
BREAKOUT SEASON
512
2019 MI
🏆 IPL CHAMPION
424
2020 MI
🏆 IPL CHAMPION
480
2021 MI
T20I debut year
317
2022 MI
Injury cut season short
303
2023 MI
🔥 103* • Best season
605
2024 MI
345
2025 MI
🏆 717 RECORD • MVP
717
Regular season
Best season 2023 (605, 103*)
Record 2025 (717, IPL MVP)
Performance vs Each Team Career Totals
🏈 Career Runs vs Each Opponent
Total runs scored against each franchise across all IPL seasons.
CSK
498
Most
RCB
412
 
RR
368
 
PBKS
358
 
SRH
342
 
DC
312
 
GT
298
 
KKR
285
 
LSG
245
 
📈 Batting Average vs Each Opponent
Runs per dismissal. SKY's explosive entry means even short innings count heavily.
GT
42.6
Most
CSK
41.5
 
RR
40.9
 
SRH
38.0
 
PBKS
35.8
 
DC
35.0
 
LSG
35.0
 
RCB
34.3
 
KKR
28.5
 
⚡ Strike Rate vs Each Opponent
Runs per 100 balls. SKY's SR exceeds 150 against virtually every team he faces.
GT
168.0
Most
PBKS
162.0
 
LSG
159.0
 
RR
158.0
 
SRH
156.0
 
CSK
155.0
 
RCB
152.0
 
DC
148.0
 
KKR
140.0
 
🎯 Fifty-Plus Scores vs Each Opponent
Innings of 50+ including 2 centuries (both vs GT, 2023 & 2024).
CSK
5
Most
RCB
4
 
RR
4
 
KKR
3
 
SRH
3
 
DC
3
 
PBKS
3
 
GT
3
 
LSG
2
 
IPL Records & Milestones
717 Most Runs by a Non-Opener in a Season IPL 2025 — beat AB de Villiers' record of 687 (2016)
181.1 Strike Rate in IPL 2023 605 runs at SR 181 — one of the highest ever in a full season
103* Highest IPL Score vs Gujarat Titans, 2023 — off just 49 balls
910 ICC T20I Rating Points Jan 2023 — 2nd highest in T20I ranking history
2 ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022 & 2023 — consecutive years
3 IPL Titles KKR 2014, Mumbai Indians 2019 & 2020
Career Journey Key Seasons
2012
Duck on Debut — Then Invisible for Two Years
Signed by MI for Rs 10 lakh. Gets one match against Pune Warriors, scores a duck. With Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Pollard ahead of him, he barely gets a look-in over two seasons. MI release him before 2014.
2014
🏆 KKR Buy Him — Wins First IPL Title
KKR sign him for Rs 70 lakh. Gautam Gambhir gives him the nickname SKY. 164 runs as a finisher. KKR win the IPL 2014 title — his first. The career begins to take shape away from MI.
2015
46 off 20 vs MI — The Moment India Noticed
A 46 off 20 balls against his old franchise Mumbai Indians puts SKY on the radar nationally. He becomes KKR vice-captain. 196 runs in the season. The 360-degree shots start appearing regularly.
2018
The Homecoming — 512 Runs, Breakout Season
MI buy him back for Rs 3.2 crore. He repays them immediately: 512 runs, avg 36.6, SR 133, 4 fifties. Back where his career started, now as a genuine match-winner at No. 3. The blueprint for what follows is set.
2019
🏆 IPL Champion — 424 Runs
424 runs at avg 38.5, SR 144.9, 4 fifties. MI win the IPL. SKY's role as MI's No. 3 anchor-cum-aggressor is now fully established. Repeats the feat in 2020 with 480 runs as MI win the title again.
2023
🔥 Best Season — 605 Runs at SR 181 — 103* off 49 Balls
605 runs, avg 43.2, SR 181.1, 5 fifties, 1 century (103* off 49 balls vs GT — MI's first century since 2014). Vice-captain of MI. ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year for the second consecutive year. SKY is now undeniably world cricket's finest T20 batter.
2025
🏆 717 Runs — All-Time Non-Opener Record — IPL MVP
717 runs, avg 53, 5 fifties — the most runs ever scored by a non-opener in any IPL season, breaking AB de Villiers' record of 687 from 2016. Named IPL MVP. Now retained by MI for Rs 16.35 crore. The late bloomer has fully bloomed.
Did You Know?
🤯
SKY's nickname was given to him by Gautam Gambhir in 2014 when SKY was playing for KKR. The abbreviation of Suryakumar Yadav became SKY and the name stuck — now the most recognised nickname in Indian T20 cricket.
📈
SKY made his T20I debut at age 30 in March 2021 — extraordinarily late for a format specialist. Yet within 18 months he reached the ICC No. 1 T20I ranking and won back-to-back ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year awards (2022 & 2023).
🏆
His 717 runs in IPL 2025 broke AB de Villiers' record of 687 for most runs by a non-opener in a single IPL season. He batted at No. 3 or 4 all season — meaning he faced fewer balls and had a shorter time at the crease than any opener who scored similarly.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup final vs South Africa, SKY took one of the greatest catches in cricket history — a running, tumbling boundary-line grab to dismiss David Miller from a full-blooded pull shot. Ian Smith called it “one of the greatest catches ever seen.” India won by 7 runs.
👑
MI signed SKY for Rs 10 lakh in 2011. He scored a duck in his one game and was released. KKR then paid Rs 70 lakh. MI bought him back for Rs 3.2 crore in 2018 and retained him for Rs 16.35 crore in 2025. A 163,500% increase over his original price.
🚀
SKY captained India to the 2025 Asia Cup title and the 2026 T20 World Cup — becoming only the second captain after Rohit Sharma to lead India to a T20 World Cup. He plays only T20I and ODI cricket internationally; his only Test match was in 2023.

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