File photo of AB de Villiers© Twitter
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team will have no room for error when they face England in the second semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Thursday. While players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh have shown enough signs to be in good form, one player who has been the standout performer is Suryakumar Yadav. In five matches, he has scored 225 runs – third-highest among all batters – at an astounding strike-rate of 193.96. His batting has looked innovative as he has come up with bizarre yet high-scoring shots. All that has led him to be compared with South African batting great AB de Villiers.
Former Australia batter David Hussey is also impressed with the way Suryakumar Yadav is performing.
“I wouldn’t say that (on being asked whether India is over depending on Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav). They have many wonderful players like their openers, wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. They also have a good pace attack and good spin and I think they are a balanced team. A good coaching staff, Rahul Dravid, Paddy Upton and I think everyone knows their role very well in the team. In T20 cricket, if one player comes off, the team generally wins and fortunately for the Indian team, there are two-three players coming off with the bat and ball. So, it’s quite a compliment for the Indian team, going into the finals,” Hussey told NDTV.
“He (Suryakumar Yadav) also delivers. He has probably taken over from AB de Villiers for hitting all-around the ground. What’s the best thing about Suryakumar is that he is classy, humble and a great player to watch. He is reaching on to the success he deserves. Yes, why not (On being asked whether Suryakumar can be the next Mr 360)? I think the players now are scared of playing 360 degree as then they have to play all-around the ground and I think SKY is amazingly expert of that.”
Promoted
Suryakumar’s performances in recent games have led him to gain the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings.
In 28 T20I innings this year, Suryakumar has scored 1,026 runs at an average of 44.60. One century and nine half-centuries have come out of his bat, with the best score of 117. These runs have come at a strike rate of 186.24. Suryakumar is the first Indian and only the second player in T20I history to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year
Topics mentioned in this article