‘Never knew Suryakumar had this kind of game, he never showed it earlier’: AB de Villiers

The South African legend says Suryakumar Yadav was conservative in the early days and didn't try enough things.

There was a sweet exchange between AB de Villiers and Suryakumar Yadav on social media after the Indian’s pyrotechnics against Zimbabwe at the MCG, where the latter insisted that AB remains the master of 360-degree play and he is only the apprentice.

AB de Villiers shared his thoughts on Suryakumar Yadav

The South African was having none of it though and wrote back: “You’re quickly getting there dude and even more.”

It’s taken an incredibly impactful World Cup performance from Yadav for the South African batting maestro to form this opinion. “When I first saw him play, I didn't see it coming. He was very conservative, he didn't try enough things,” de Villiers told reporters on the sidelines of an upcoming franchise event India Super League. “He was always looking to consolidate. I never knew he had this kind of game in him. He was never there to showcase it.”

Yadav may be realising his true potential now. But his decade-long domestic exploits, his cameos for Kolkata Knight Riders, and the defining 2018 IPL season where he opened and scored 512 runs for Mumbai Indians had all gone under the radar. For de Villiers, his first impression of Yadav was that he was 'almost a slow kind of batter who would look to consolidate'.

In almost the same way, the talent of Yadav, 32, went unnoticed by the national selectors. There may somewhere be a lesson for a cricketer on the fringes of selection -- never give up. Just as Yadav’s father would keep reminding him of the Michael Hussey example – the Australian played 79 Tests after making his debut, aged 30.

“It's never too late. The key for him (Yadav) was that he was patient and willing to put the hard yards,” he said. “Once he put that solid foundation for a year or two, he said, 'All right guys, I know what I am doing, I am an experienced player. I will show you what I am about'…that's been beautiful to watch.”

Yadav is scoring at the best strike rate (194) amongst those to have faced 50 balls in the World Cup; he’s played a top innings 68 (40) on a fast bouncy Perth track against South African quicks and taken Zimbabwe’s death bowlers apart with his unbeaten 25-ball 61. No one has scored more runs (1026) this year in T2OIs than Yadav.

“The only secret for him now is to find consistency. If he can in a year or two, he is going to become one of India's best players. I am looking forward to watching that,” said de Villiers.

He sees some similarities too. “He is a bit older than me. I was thrown deep into international cricket, quite early. But the way he is playing, I do see a lot of similarities. If he can be consistent for a long period of time, he is going to become great.”

De Villiers is even happier to see his ex-RCB teammate Virat Kohli regain touch. Of Kohli’s stunning takedown of Pakistan in the tournament opener, de Villiers saw it coming.

“If you set that kind of foundation, do a lot of hard work, magic like that tends to happen. You surprise yourself as a player. That's exactly what happened there,” he said. “When the pressure is on, someone has got to crack and it's generally not that player who has been batting all the time. In T20 cricket, you have new bowlers coming in all the time. So, they were not quite in the rhythm, that he (Kohli) was in. You could see that unfold and I could see that coming.”

“If he can break the shackles down, as we have seen in the last few weeks," de Villiers added. "We might see a few years of a lot of worry for the bowlers.”