IND vs WI 2022: "This is similar to what AB de Villiers used to do" - Parthiv Patel on Suryakumar Yadav's approach in T20Is

Former Indian wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel has praised Suryakumar Yadav for his match-winning innings of 76 in the third T20I against the West Indies on Tuesday, August 2.

The 31-year-old played some outrageous shots and absolutely toyed with the field as well as with the minds of the bowlers. Patel compared Yadav's ability to play shots around the ground to that of former South African legend AB de Villiers.

The former wicketkeeper shared the dressing room with De Villiers when they both used to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Speaking to Cricbuzz after the game, Patel explained how Yadav's approach is similar to that of De Villiers. He said:

"He (Yadav) executes it (high-risk shots) better than anyone else. In T20 cricket you have to take your chances and you can only take them when you have the kind of confidence in your ability that Suryakumar Yadav has."

The 37-year-old added:

"'Whatever you bowl, I will play according to the field, not the bowler.' This is similar to what AB de Villiers used to do. He is always looking at the ball and coming into the positions very early."

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Parthiv Patel on what makes Suryakumar Yadav special

Patel feels Suryakumar Yadav possesses the special ability to hit the same ball to two different parts of the ground. He opined that when this is the case, bowlers fall short of solutions and end up getting dominated when they aren't accurate. Patel stated about the swashbuckling right-hander:

"I have a theory that if a player can hit you over fine leg and also over long off and covers then he is the most difficult batter to bowl to."

He continued:

"When a batter has a strong leg-side game and can hit you over fine leg or mid wicket, you bowl outside off to him. But then if he hits you over mid off or covers, then the margin of error is none."

Patel concluded:

"You can't err in length and have to be stump-to-stump. So that is the kind of batter Suryakumar Yadav is."

After he scored just 35 runs across the first two T20Is against West Indies, there were calls for Yadav to be deployed down the order. However, he fired on all cylinders in the third match to hand India a 2-1 series lead.

It will be interesting to see whether the Men in Blue view sending Yadav at the top of the order as a long-term option in T20Is.