New Delhi [India]: Suryakumar Yadav has been compared to South African batting legend AB de Villiers, and the Proteas wicketkeeper-batter recently addressed the parallels, pointing out that the India star has been playing some shots that he never played.
Experts have been forced to draw comparisons between Suryakumar and the former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) great due to his ability to play strokes all over the park. de Villiers lavishly praised the No. 1 T20 batter in the world.
“I think it’s incredible. I think he’s pulling off shots that I never did. I really do, when it gets going, it’s lovely to watch. I think he’s got a long way to go still. I think there’s more to come. I think there’s even a better player in the future, so that’s very exciting,” de Villiers said while talking to JioCinema on Home of Heroes.
“His biggest challenge will be to be consistent in all the formats and to figure out his game in Test cricket, in ODIs and in T20 and understand how it works for him,” he continued.
“I think he should actually just realise it’s all exactly the same. I do see a lot of similarities. He’s just going to be able to shift through the gears and I mean, it’s incredible to watch. He can score all around the ground,” de Villiers added.
AB de Villiers went on to say that Suryakumar’s secret to success is his cool demeanour in the middle of the field.
“When he’s confident, he moves so slowly and he sets it so beautifully upright,” the former Proteas skipper added.
“He gets the ball nice and late. And once you snap that as a batter, once you realize that the faster the bowler gets, the more you’ve got to let it come and that is really starting to click and I think he has clicked that. So, the sky’s the limit. Excuse the pun,” de Villiers said.
Suryakumar has blazed the stage since making his T20I debut in 2021. In 46 T20I innings, he has averaged over 46 and scored 1,675 runs with three centuries, and 13 fifties. These runs have come at a stunning strike rate of over 175.
