‘He can lap you, he can late cut you, he’s got all the shots’ – Gautam Gambhir lauds Suryakumar Yadav for being ‘versatile’ and ‘unorthodox’

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir reckoned that Suryakumar Yadav has the ingredients to taste a massive amount of success in the T20 format. Earlier this year, the 30-year-old Yadav made his T20I debut for the Men in Blue against England in Ahmedabad. In four games, the right-hander has scored 139 runs at an average of 46.33 with two half-centuries under his belt.

Yadav has also grabbed a lot of eyeballs while playing for the five-time champion Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Gambhir, who retired back in December 2018, said that Suryakumar has all the shots in the book required for the T20 format and he’s much more versatile than Shreyas Iyer.

On Wednesday, September 8, the Board of Control for Cricket in India named the squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. While Yadav was included in the 15-member squad, Iyer was picked as a travelling reserve along with fast bowler Deepak Chahar.

Gambhir heaps praises on Suryakumar Yadav

“Surya is a completely different class, as compared to Shreyas Iyer, he is much more versatile, he is much more unorthodox as well. In T20 cricket, you need people that are unorthodox; you want people who can hit that ball in different areas, and that is what T20 cricket is all about,” Gambhir said on the Star Sports Show ‘Follow The Blues – India’s T20 World Cup Squad Special.

“He can lap you, he can late cut you, he can hit you over extra cover; he’s got all the shots, especially at No.4, because sometimes No.4 is the most tricky position to bat in T20 cricket, probably the easiest is the top three, but No.4, because you might be in when you have lost two early wickets and you still want to continue the momentum,” he added.

Yadav’s T20 form also earned him a place in India’s ODI squad for the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year. In three matches, the right-hander scored 124 runs with two half-centuries and bagged the Player of the Series award. Yadav is now set to play in the second leg of the 2021 IPL in the United Arab Emirates.