Last Updated: January 08, 2023, 12:09 PM IST
Experts draw comparision between De Villiers & Suryakumar
Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja stated that AB is recognised as one of the greatest batters to have played the game but Surya is more consistent
The entire cricketing fraternity is talking about Suryakumar Yadav after another masterstroke on Saturday. Batting against Sri Lanka in the third and the final T20I in Rajkot, the right-hand batter notched up his 3rd hundred in the shortest format of the game. He put his array of unusual cricketing shots on display to entertain the crowd in the stadium.
Surya ended up scoring an unbeaten 112 off 51 balls as India posted 227/5 in their quota of 20 overs. In reply, a commendable bowling show by Hardik Pandya and his boys bundled up the Lankans for just 137.
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Surya often gets compared with AB de Villiers for his 360-degree approach to his batting. It’s been more than 3 years since the former South African captain retired from the game but his reference is always used to describe the skillset of the India batter.
During a discussion on Cricbuzz after India’s victory, former cricketer Ajay Jadeja stated that AB is recognised as one of the greatest batters to have played the game but Surya is more consistent.
“Suryakumar Yadav is one step ahead. With AB de Villiers, he is the finest we’ve seen, no doubt. But his [Surya’s] consistency is definitely more. What he adds is the wrist work which AB didn’t have. Those shots were coming because of the wrist work, either this way or that. Even with the sweep, he has variations. Be it a full-arm sweep or just a work of the wrists, I think, his wrists are superior to the power often we speak about,” Ajay Jadeja told Cricbuzz.
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The former batter further drew a comparison between Surya and Andre Russell, the Caribbean all-rounder who is known for his muscle power. Jadeja said, “We have another example where we talk about Andre Russell. We enjoy him when he hits it hard but we have a man who is scoring at a better strike rate and consistency. He has power but is not as strong as people want to be these days, rather ‘Russell Strong’.
“He’s playing with you; not just with the ball but he’s playing with the bowler’s mind, with the opposition and the field,” Jadeja concluded.
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