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'AB didn't have it': Jadeja makes big De Villiers, Andre Russell statement while hailing Suryakumar Yadav
While Suryakumar Yadav has drawn comparisons to AB de Villiers for the better part of a year, his century in the third T20I against Sri Lanka has led to talk about him being better than some of the great power hitters in the history of T20 cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav whipped up a storm in Rajkot as he scored his third T20I century and almost single handedly took India to a 91-run win over Sri Lanka. He reached the century in just 45 balls, the second fastest by an Indian in the format, and it took his career strike rate to a whopping 180.34 in 43 innings. While his form last year, and his ability to hit the ball to almost all parts of the ground, had provoked comparisons with South Africa great AB de Villiers, there are now conversations about him arguably being better than even the former Proteas captain at his peak.
Former India batter Ajay Jadeja has pointed that Suryakumar may not have the kind of power game that the likes of De Villiers or West Indies big hitter Andre Russell had at their peak but his career strike rate in T20Is is far higher than theirs because of the way he uses his wrists.
“AB de Villiers was one of the finest we have ever seen, no doubt but his (Suryakumar's) consistency is a little bit more. AB probably had a little more power in his game, but what he (Suryakumar) adds is the wrist work, which AB didn't have. The angles he was finding were because of his wrists. Both sides, his wrists work better than AB,” said Jadeja on Cricbuzz.
Jadeja also said that Suryakumar likes toy with the bowler and the field. "Even while sweeping he uses the full arm and then uses his wrists. They are probably superior than the power hitters we have seen. We talk about enjoying watching people like Andre Russell who hit it hard but here is a guy who is probably scoring at a better strike rate and is more consistent. He is strong but not as much as everybody wants to be.
“He is timing it and he is playing with you, not with the ball. He is playing with the bowler's mind, the opposition, the field; The best strategy against him is to just go out there and just randomly stand wherever you want. It will be the same score or he might get confused,” he said.
The only solution to quieten him in this kind of form, according to the former India batter, would be to make utterly random field placements that could confuse him and throw him off his gamer. “All great players have had great runs but then in a while they either slow down or go even faster. When this happens, it will be the field that will change it because I don't think there is a ball that has not been tried against him. Now you have got to get him to think. In the IPL I won't be surprised if a couple of teams would come up with totally random fields. There is just no other choice,” he said.
Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 112 in 51 balls and took India to a score of 228/5. His innings included seven fours and nine sixes. In response, Sri Lanka were all out for just 137 runs in 16.4 overs and India thus won the series 2-1.
