T20 World Cup: Ross Taylor hails ‘unorthodox’ and ‘fearless’ India batter but it's not Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma
Ross Taylor lavished praise on a batter from Team India and also picked him as an emerging batter to watch in the T20 World Cup.
With India set to face Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener, former New Zealand player Ross Taylor picked Suryakumar Yadav as one of the five emerging batters to watch at the tournament. Writing for ICC, Taylor lavished praise on the India batter's way of playing at no.4 and also hailed his unorthodox style of play. "I know from experience that four is not an easy place to bat in T20 cricket and that’s especially true for Suryakumar Yadav, who is coming in after KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli", he wrote.
"Some would find that an intimidating place to be but he has really taken to it. He can pick out unorthodox areas and he’s fearless."
"He plays with a lot of confidence, you can tell that from the way he carries himself, and he doesn’t go many innings without making a score."
"Coming in at four and five are, in my opinion, the toughest places to bat in T20 cricket. You could come in at 10 for two and if you lose three wickets inside the six-over powerplay, you lose the majority of your matches."
"You need to mix intent with risk management but that’s something Yadav does really well. Whether chasing or setting a total, he bats with a similar mindset and India will be looking to him to continue that form in Australia", he further added.
Taylor also picked Haider Ali, Tim David, Finn Allen and Harry Brook in his list. India face Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener in the Super 12 stage, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.
Taylor also praised David's transition into international cricket. "Tim David has had a different transition into international cricket, starting out with Singapore before going on to shine in the IPL and other competitions around the world", he said.
"He has had some useful cameos in his brief appearances for Australia so far and he obviously has a lot of power. He seems to be able to hit boundaries with ease."
"He will slot into an Australian team already packed with firepower – the fact someone as talented as Cameron Green couldn’t get in the squad tells its own story."