"There are certainly similarities...."- AB de Villiers names a 19-year-old who bats like Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav is in the form of his life. He has been at his absolute best in the shorter format of the game for the last year or so. That is the reason he is sitting at the top of the T20I rankings.

SKY has certainly shown that he is different from others with his hitting ability and range of shots. Since making his debut in 2021, he has never looked back and has taken giant steps in the T20Is. He was the only player to score 1000-plus T20I runs in 2022.

He made 1164 runs in 31 innings at an average of 46.56 and a staggering strike rate of 187.43. SKY also smashed two centuries and nine half-centuries with 68 sixes, which is the most by any batter in a calendar year. He also started the year 2023 with a brilliant century against Sri Lanka.

Over the last 12 months or so, he has earned the right to be called "India's Mr. 360" with his ability to play shots to all parts of the ground. Many believe that he is the next AB de Villiers, who took batting to another level with his hitting range.

Thus, the comparison between these two has grown since then. Meanwhile, De Villiers has himself found a 19-year-old who could be the next Suryakumar Yadav in the coming years. ABD feels that the 19-year-old South African star Dewald Brevis, who is famously known as "Baby AB," has similar skills to Suryakumar Yadav.

In his blog for Betway, De Villiers wrote, "There are certainly similarities in the way that they approach the game. They're both really aggressive, they want to take the bowlers on and they don’t let the bowlers settle. Dewald is obviously a lot younger and has still got a lot to learn, whereas SKY is experienced these days. He come a long way having performed well for the Mumbai Indians. But they both excite me a lot."

Both play for MI in the IPL. Meanwhile, Brevis also represented MI Cape Town in the inaugural SA20 and has done a decent job for them. In 10 games, he scored 235 runs. He was picked by MI at a decent amount of INr 3 crore at the age of 18 years. Brewis scored 506 runs in six innings in the U19 World Cup which earned him his IPL call.