Having made his international debut last year, Suryakumar Yadav has established himself as one of India’s leading batters in white-ball cricket.

In 42 T20Is, Yadav has amassed 1408 runs at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 180.97, including two hundreds and 12 half-centuries. He has also made a mark in ODIs, scoring 384 runs from 16 matches at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 100.52 with two fifties.

Surya’s batting was one of the highlights of India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. The dashing right-hander scored 239 runs in six matches at a sensational strike rate of 189.68 with three half-centuries.

For his recent exploits, Suryakumar is garnering praise from all across the world. Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith is the latest to laud the Indian batter, comparing his batting style with that of the Proteas batting maverick AB de Villiers.

“I’ve seen Surya for a while now at the IPL. I’ve been fortunate to see him while commentating. You just see him grow every year. You could see he has the talent. And it’s almost like watching AB in many ways. The thinking, he has started to become at the same level as the talent and the ability to play the right shots at the right time,” Smith told Sports Today at the India launch of SA20.

“It’s terrific to have a player coming through like Surya. The energy he brings to the game and everybody turns on the TV to watch a player like him. It’s exciting and yeah, it’s terrific for Indian cricket,” he added.

After the T20 World Cup 2022, Team India toured New Zealand for a white-ball series and Surya left his mark in the Kiwi land as well, scoring an unbeaten 111 off 51 balls in the second T20I.