Early and Personal Life

Yadav was born and brought up in Mumbai and started playing cricket under the tutelage of his uncle Vinod Yadav. He learned the game while playing on the streets of Chembur. At the age of 10, his father realized his inclination for the game and enrolled him in a cricket camp at BARC Colony in Anushakti Nagar. He then attended the Elf Vengsarkar Academy, run by former international cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar, and played age group cricket in Mumbai. He was educated at Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science.

In July 2016, Yadav married Devisha Shetty. The couple met in 2010 as part of a college program. Shetty is a trained dancer and dance trainer.

Career

Suryakumar Yadav played club cricket for the Parsi Gymkhana Cricket Club in Mumbai. Apart from Parsi Gymkhana, he also played for the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited team as well as for clubs like Shivaji Park Gymkhana Club and Dadar Union Club in Mumbai club cricket.

He was one of the oldest and regular members of the Mumbai Ranji team. He briefly captained the Mumbai cricket team in the Ranji Trophy. In the middle of the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy season, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) released him from the captaincy and resigned from the team in the 2018–19 season. However, the MCA selection committee later selected him and named him captain for the 2019–20 tournament.

Suryakumar Yadav captained the Mumbai team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21.

In 2021, while playing for his club Parsi Gymkhana, he scored 249 runs in the final against Payyade Sports Club in the Police Shield tournament at the Police Gymkhana Grounds in Mumbai. Parsee Gymkhana last won this tournament in 1956 and created history by becoming the first club to win two consecutive trophies in three different formats in a single season. Yadav won the award as the best batsman of the finals.

In October 2018, he was named in India C's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. In October 2019, he was again named in the Indian C squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy.

After scoring consistently in first-class and domestic cricket, Suryakumar finally received his first national call-up in February 2021 when he was named in India's T20I squad for the 5-match T20I series against England which took place in March 2021. After making his debut in domestic cricket, he became an integral part of the playing eleven, especially in the T20 team. He is yet to cement his place in the ODI team as a series of low scores continue to occur due to the limited opportunities he has.

Indian Premier League

He received an IPL contract from Mumbai Indians (MI) for the 2012 season. However, he only played one game this season and was released without scoring.

He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 IPL auctions. In IPL 2015, he made headlines when he scored 20 balls, 46 runs and five sixes to secure victory against MI at Eden Gardens. He became the team's vice-captain and played regularly. In 2018 IPL auctions, he was bought by Mumbai Indians for a price of ₹3.2 crore (US$400,000).

After an impressive stint with Mumbai Indians, he was hired by them ahead of the mega auction of the 2022 season for INR 8 Cr. However, he was ruled out of IPL 2022 due to a left forearm injury.

Mumbai Indians retained Yadav for INR 8 Crore in IPL 2023. Ranked as the ICC T20 No. 1 batsman and Men's Cricketer of the Year 2022, he ended up being one of the most valuable players in IPL 2023. After the retirement of Kieron Pollard He has been named vice-captain of Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023.

He scored his first IPL century on May 12, 2023 against Gujarat Titans.

International Career

In February 2021 he was called up to India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for his series against England. It was his first international call-up to the Indian cricket team. He made his T20I debut for India on March 14, 2021 against England. He then played the fourth game of the series on 18 March and got his first opportunity to bat and hit the first ball he faced in international cricket for a six. He became the first Indian to do so at T20 International, scoring a goal in half a century. The next day he was called up to India's One Day International (ODI) squad for the series against England. His breakthrough performances at No. 3 led to his captain dubbing him an "X Factor" player.

In June 2021, he was called up to India's One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for their series against Sri Lanka. He made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka on 18 July 2021. On July 21, 2021, Yadav scored his first ODI-50 against Sri Lanka.

In July 2021, Yadav was called up to replace India's Test squad for their series against England. In September 2021, Yadav was named to India's squad for the 2021 ICC T20 Men's World Championship. In November he was included in India's Test squad for the series against New Zealand.

In June 2022, he was named in the Indian squad for the T20I series against Ireland.

In July 2022, Suryakumar Yadav scored his maiden T20I century against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England, scoring 117 off 55 balls. He is only the fifth Indian player to record a century in T20Is and only the second to reach the batting mark at fourth or lower. In October 2022, he became the fastest batsman to score 1000 runs in T20Is, reaching the mark in 573 balls against South Africa.

On 30 October 2022, Yadav was ranked first in the ICC T20I rankings for batsmen.

On 27 October 2022, Yadav scored the fourth-fastest half-century by an Indian batsman in a T20 World Cup and his first in a T20 World Cup, reaching the mark in 25 balls against the Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In November 2022, Suryakumar Yadav scored his second T20I century against New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, scoring 111 not out from 51 balls with the help of 11 fours and 7 sixes. He became the second Indian to score two centuries in T20Is in a calendar year, emulating Rohit Sharma's record.

In January 2023, Suryakumar scored the second-fastest century by an Indian batsman in T20 Internationals, the third of his career, reaching the mark in 45 balls against Sri Lanka at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, India. He broke KL Rahul's record for the second fastest T20I century, achieving this in 46 balls against West Indies. Suryakumar Yadav also won the ICC T20I Player of the Year Award for his brilliant performance in 2022.

He made his Test debut against Australia on 9 February 2023 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.

He is the only Indian batsman to score three Golden Ducks in a three-match ODI series. He had this record against Australia in March 2023.

In August 2023, Yadav was again selected to play against West Indies in ODIs and was also selected as the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team in T20Is. In the 3rd T20i match, he scored a top knock of 83 runs in 44 balls and won the must-win game of the series.