New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips has revealed his admiration for India’s Suryakumar Yadav, saying that he wouldn’t even dream of pulling off things that the 32-year-old has done recently.
2022 was an incredible year for Yadav as he was India’s best batter in the T20 format. His form saw the 32-year-old rise up to the No.1 spot for batters in the ICC Rankings and he continued his brilliant run at the recently-concluded T20 World Cup.
“He’s absolutely incredible. The things that he does I wouldn’t even dream of doing. I would love to try but we have very different games. The wrist strength that he’s got to be able to hit balls for six in extremely awkward areas is a talent you rarely see,” said Phillips.
“I’ve got my strengths and he’s got his and we go about our jobs in different ways. And the way we both play presents opportunities for the opposition to get us out as well. It’s part of the risk and reward of middle-order cricket in T20.”
The Kiwi batter has predicted that Yadav’s strike-rate would be higher in New Zealand as compared to Australia, given the smaller grounds in the country. He also said it would be interesting to see what sort of strike-rates will be achieved ahead of the second game between the two teams at the Bay Oval.
“I could easily see [Yadav’s] strike rate being even higher here than it was in Aussie, with the slightly smaller grounds and the pitches very similar, potentially a bit bouncier with a bit more grass on them. It’s going to be very interesting what sort of strike rates we see here.”
