Mount Maunganui, Nov 19 () New Zealand’s middle-order batter Glenn Phillips has been in awe of the audacious strokeplay coming from the bat of India’s swashbuckling batter Suryakumar Yadav, saying he cannot dream of doing things which the Mumbai-based batter has done this year.
Both Suryakumar and Phillips had a brilliant time with the bat in the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. But it was Suryakumar, currently the top-ranked T20I batter, who made a huge splash in the tournament, making 239 runs in six innings with his jaw-dropping 360-degree style of batting.
“He’s absolutely incredible. The things that he does I wouldn’t even dream of doing. I would love to try but we have very different games. The wrist strength that he’s got to be able to hit balls for six in extremely awkward areas is a talent you rarely see,” Phillips was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
Phillips also predicted that Suryakumar will get lots of runs in the second T20I at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui and in third T20I at Napier, if rain stays away from both matches after series opener at Wellington was abandoned on Friday.
“I could easily see (Yadav’s) strike rate being even higher here than it was in Aussie, with the slightly smaller grounds and the pitches very similar, potentially a bit bouncier with a bit more grass on them. It’s going to be very interesting what sort of strike rates we see here.”
Both Suryakumar and Phillips will be prized scalps for bowlers from both sides and the right-hander is aware of it. “I’ve got my strengths and he’s got his and we go about our jobs in different ways. And the way we both play presents opportunities for the opposition to get us out as well. It’s part of the risk and reward of middle order cricket in T20,” he added.
Coming back to play a T20I for New Zealand at the Bay Oval brought back some fond memories for Phillips. Two years ago, he smashed a record 46-ball century in a T20I game against West Indies. His magnificent knock of 108 off 51 balls, hitting eight sixes and ten fours, saw him share a mammoth 184-run stand for the third wicket with Devon Conway to help New Zealand post 238/3.
“The partnership we had, 180-something, was almost for me bigger than the hundred itself. That was a really cool moment, coming back into the side after being out for a while really solidified to me that I can play at this level and that I was ready to come back,” concluded Phillips.
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