IND vs SL 2023: Players like Suryakumar Yadav come once in a century – Kapil Dev

Indian great Kapil Dev feels players like Suryakumar Yadav come once in a lifetime after the batter continued to impress with his strokeplay. SKY scored a magnum opus knock of 112 runs off just 51 balls in the third T20I against Sri Lanka to help India post a gargantuan score of 228 runs on the board.

The right-hander batted at his best as he brought up his third T20I century in the shortest format of the game. Yadav has been consistently delivering the goods for India in the T20I format and his performances have been exemplary.

SKY has amassed 1578 runs in 45 T20I matches at an average of 46.41 and a blistering strike rate of 180.34.

“There are times when you are lost for words on how to describe this,” Kapil Dev told ABP News. “When you watch Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, you think whether there will be a player who can convince you that he’s at the same level as these. There’s an abundance of talent in India. And the kind of cricket he plays, especially the lap shot over the fine leg. What does a bowler do then? They are afraid of bowling him full – he can hit you over mid-on, can flick you for a six. It becomes difficult for a bowler. He consistently keeps on picking line and length. He’s toying with the bowlers.”

The World Cup-winning captain believes SKY is playing with the mindset of the bowlers as he has been spot-on with his prediction of line and length.

“It’s rare to see someone strike this way. I have seen amazing players like AB de Villiers, Vivian Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting but few can hit the ball as cleanly as Suryakumar. Hats off to him!” said Kapil Dev.

“Suryakumar Yadav is playing with the mindset of the players. In tennis, you try to predict whether the service will land to your right or left. He can judge early where the bowler is about to land. Few players have this god-gifted ability to play like this. It’s not easy. Players like him come once in a century.”

Yadav has been successfully playing with the field and he is known to find the gaps at will. The right-hander has savored great success in the middle overs and he can hit the ground running. The 32-year-old has been playing aggressively and he has delivered the goods consistently for the team.

Yadav will look to continue the good show in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, with the first game to be played in Guwahati on Tuesday.