Mercurial New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips said that he was in awe of the Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav’s audacious strokeplay and also added that he cannot dream of doing things that the Mumbai-based batter has done this year.
Suryakumar Yadav, the no.1 ranked T20I batter, has 1040 runs in 2022 in T20Is with one century and 9 fifties at an average of 43.33 and strike rate of 185.71 in 29 matches. He also had an amazing T20 World Cup 2022, where he made 239 runs in 6 matches with 3 fifties at a strike rate of 189.69.
Phillips, who himself made 201 runs with one century and one fifty in the tournament called Suryakumar Yadav incredible.
“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," Phillips was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
Phillips also predicted that Suryakumar will get lots of runs in the T20I series in which the second match will be played on Sunday at Tauranga and the third T20I in Napier on Tuesday.
“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,” he added.
“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," Phillips signed off.
The third T20I of the series will be played in Napier on November 22.
(IANS inputs)
