IND vs SL 2021: "Suryakumar Yadav is the kind of batsman who will score big hundreds" - Salman Butt
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has predicted that in-form Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav will score big centuries in international cricket. Butt described Yadav as a top-class player, who scores at a quick pace without taking too many risks.
Following a long wait, Suryakumar Yadav has made an excellent start to his international career. He was the Player of the Series in the ODIs against Sri Lanka and scored a half-century in India’s win in the first T20I as well.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt stated that Yadav is a special talent, who has the ability to score big hundreds. He stated:
“From what I have seen of Suryakumar Yadav, he has excellent wrist work. His shot selection is really good. Even when he plays the big shots, he targets the gaps. Suryakumar Yadav is a very sensible player and reads the spinners very well. Of all the Indian batsmen in Sri Lanka, he has played the slow bowlers, including mystery spinners who are difficult to pick, in the best manner. He has a great range of shots and is classy as well. It doesn’t seem like he is trying to hit the ball too hard and there is a lot of fluency in his strokes.”
Butt added in praise of Yadav:
“The risk factor in his shots is less. The speciality of a top-class player is that he maintains a good strike rate and it doesn’t seem like he is taking too many risks to maintain it. There is a lot of calmness in Suryakumar Yadav’s batting. I would love to see him score hundreds. Of course, the T20Is are going on now. But given the kind of batsman he is, I think Suryakumar Yadav will score big hundreds. He is a special talent on display.”
Suryakumar Yadav has a huge opportunity to make a mark in England: Salman Butt
With injuries to key players in the Indian camp in England, the BCCI have decided to send Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav to the UK as replacements in the Test squad. Analyzing the move, Butt said that it is a great chance for Yadav to make his mark under challenging conditions. He stated:
“Suryakumar Yadav has a huge opportunity to make a mark in England if he gets an opportunity to play. People have started developing a view of him as being a classy player. If he scores in England as well, he will prove that he is a top-class player because England is a tough place to score runs.”
Describing Suryakumar Yadav as a mature cricketer owing to his first-class experience, Butt explained:
“He has debuted at 30. The maturity that he has gained by playing years of domestic cricket is visible in his batting. There are many other talented Indian batsmen who are playing fearless cricket but Suryakumar Yadav is proving to be a lot more mature. Maybe that is because of the amount of domestic cricket he has played. Most batsmen are at their peak at the age at which Suryakumar Yadav has made his debut.”
Having made his first-class debut in 2010, Suryakumar Yadav has played 77 matches in which he has scored 5326 runs at an average of 44.01. His figures include 14 hundreds and 26 fifties.