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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has compared Indian batting sensation Suryakumar Yadav with AB de Villiers by talking about how the Indian possesses a 360-degree batting ability like the South African genius. Ponting further expressed how Surya could be the end of India's long search for a reliable batter at the number 4 position.
"Surya (Yadav) scores 360 degrees around the ground, a bit like an AB de Villiers did when he was in his actual prime. The lap shots, the late cuts, you know, the ramps over the keeper's head. He can hit down the ground," Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
Ponting, who has seen Suryakumar Yadav up close in his early years at Mumbai Indians, explained how his array of shots allows him to dominate both pacers and spinners.
He said: "He hits really well over the leg side, flicks to deep backward square particularly well, and he's a good player of fast bowling and is a good player of spin bowling. He's a very, very exciting player and I'm sure someone that's going to find himself in their team, not just their squad."
The two-time World Cup captain then talked about Surya’s mentality as he is a confident player and is always ready to take up any challenge.
"I think you'd find him in their team for the T20 World Cup. And if he's in that team, then I think all the fans in Australia are going to see a very, very good player. He's quite a confident person. He backs himself and he's never going to step down from a challenge or any situation that arises in a game. I feel he thinks he can win that situation and therefore go on and win the game for his team," he added.
Suryakumar Yadav at 31 has scored 672 runs at an average of 37.33 and a strike rate of 175.45 in 23 T20 matches and has jumped up to the No.2 in the ICC T20 Batter Rankings, behind Pakistan captain Babar Azam. Yadav has also looked like of the best finishers in the game as he has a strike rate of 258.82 in the death overs in T20Is.
