T20 World Cup 2022: "Surya is very different from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik" - Gautam Gambhir lauds Suryakumar Yadav's knock in warm-up game vs Australia
Gautam Gambhir has lauded Suryakumar Yadav for scoring a blazing half-century and pointed out that he cannot be compared with any other Indian batter.
Yadav smashed 50 runs off 33 balls in India's first warm-up match against Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022. His knock helped the Men in Blue set a 187-run target for the defending champions and they went on to win the match by six runs.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about his views on Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik getting caught in the deep while Yadav picked his areas to play his shots. He replied:
"Surya is very different from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik. Surya's hitting areas, his ability to maneuver the ball into the gaps and the way he uses the pace, he is extremely unorthodox, plays shots over fine leg, third man, cover or point. Suryakumar Yadav is a 360-degree player."
Gambhir added that Kohli and Karthik's batting approach is unlike Yadav's. The former India batter explained:
"If you talk about Dinesh Karthik, he improvises a lot. You don't need to improvise that much. Virat Kohli likes to take his time while batting and he will do that as well but if you talk about Suryakumar Yadav, the phase and form in which he is in, I don't think you can compare him with anyone in this batting lineup and it will be unfair as well."
Kane Richardson (on Sky's dismissal) said, "this is the first time Suryakumar Yadav has failed to middle the ball against us (laughs)".
Yadav struck six fours and a six during his innings. He was eventually caught-and-bowled by Kane Richardson when he got a leading edge while trying to play a full toss to the leg side.
"The important thing we saw was that he didn't take this match casually" - Gautam Gambhir on Suryakumar Yadav
Gambhir praised Yadav for not slackening in the warm-up game. He said:
"You want him to continue this form in this World Cup. This might have been a warm-up match but the important thing we saw was that he didn't take this match casually. He maintained his form."
Gambhir concluded by hoping that the Mumbai batter will continue with the same approach in India's second warm-up game against New Zealand on Wednesday, October 19.
"We all know that if a batter has two or three bad innings, doubts start creeping in. This is one good thing from Suryakumar Yadav's viewpoint and I would want to see that if gets to play in the next match, he gives the same importance to that game as well and doesn't fiddle with his form."
Kane Richardson said "Suryakumar Yadav is probably the best batsman in T20I right now".
Yadav enjoys an exceptional record in T20I cricket. The 32-year-old has smashed 1045 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 176.81 in 34 games.