Comparing Suryakumar Yadav Straight To AB de Villiers? Ricky Ponting Should Have Waited More - Salman Butt

Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt said that the comparisons between Suryakumar Yadav and AB de Villiers are far-fetched, especially with the amount of cricket the former has played.

Butt’s comments came in the aftermath of former Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting, saying that Suryakumar’s style of batting reminds him of the former South African great, who retired from all forms of cricket last year.

“The kind of cricket AB de Villiers played, I feel no one in even recent history has ever played like him. The kind of impact he had, opposition teams knew that if you cannot dismiss him you cannot win the match.”

“There is Root, Williamson, Kohli as well who has been world no.1 batter and has scored incredible hundreds. Rohit Sharma on his day has scored 250 runs in ODIs. So, maybe Ponting had a jet lag,” Butt said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.

“The fact is that there hasn’t been a player like AB de Villiers” – Salman Butt

Butt asserted that de Villiers is unique in every which way and nobody can be compared to him. Notably, Suryakumar hasn’t played in a major tournament as of yet and his first big test will be the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

“He has just started to play international cricket. He has talent and has played well. But comparing him straight to AB de Villiers? Ponting should have waited a bit more. He is yet to play in big tournaments. The fact is that there hasn’t been a player like AB de Villiers. You can maybe compare him with Viv Richards,” Butt further stated.

Also Read – The Team Was Not That Aggressive Under Virat Kohli, He Was Incredibly Aggressive On The Field: Aakash Chopra On The Former Indian Captain’s Leadership