Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri likened Suryakumar Yadav’s power-hitting abilities to AB de Villiers.

SKY has played two matches for Mumbai Indians and he has scored fifties in both of them. In fact, MI had their backs against the wall against Royal Challengers Bangalore as they were tottering at 79-6 after 13.2 overs on Saturday.

However, SKY once again bailed his team out of the jail as he smashed 68 runs off just 37 balls to help MI post a fighting total of 151 runs on the board. The right-hander is well known to time the ball to perfection and has a great ability to find the gaps at will towards the end of the innings.

The Mumbai batter mostly bats according to the match situation and he has grown in confidence in the last couple of years.

“Unbelievable. He played a gem in their last game. Today (Saturday) was really special. When you are 50/0 and then 89/6 and then your team scores 71 runs in the last 5 overs with Surya doing most of the damage, you know at the end of the knock as he passes by, say ‘Surya Namaskar’,” Shastri said on Star Sports.

“At the stage when you have your team on the mat, to throw a counter-punch like he did, it was amazing.

The renowned commentator compared Suryakumar Yadav with batters like Jos Buttler and AB de Villiers, who are well known for their pyrotechnics.

“The variety of shots he plays, the wrist work, the power he brings to his game, his uncanny ability to look at where the gaps are and hit there, he is just very unreal. AB de Villiers in his prime did it. You won’t get too many like them in cricket, there was de Villiers, there is Buttler, and Suryakumar. He is right up there on the world stage,” he further added.

MI is yet to register their first win of the season and they have lost all of their four matches. Mumbai Indians will play their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Saturday.