‘One invented, the other followed’ – Twitter divided over Shoaib Akhtar’s statement on Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian batter of an unorthodox kind, hit the headlines after scoring his third T20I century during the final match of the T20I series against Sri Lanka on January 7, Saturday. Scoring all over the ground, Suryakumar invited comparisons with South African superstar AB de Villiers on social media. 

One of those who compared the Indian star with de Villiers was the Pakistani great Shoaib Akhtar. To add more, Akhtar claimed that he would prefer Suryakumar over the Proteas star citing boldness and confidence as reasons. The former Pakistani cricketer said that he would want the Indian in his squad for the latter is fearless as compared to de Villiers. 

“I’d pick Suryakumar Yadav over AB de Villiers. AB was class, but SKY is fearless. I’d go for SKY 100%” Akhtar was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel. Arguably, the former South African cricketer faced dangerous pacers all through his career, with fans now questioning if it would be right to compare players of two different eras. 

It’s really important to put pressure on yourself: Suryakumar Yadav

Post bagging the Player of the Match award for his courageous 112 against the Lankan Lions in the final T20I which India won by 91 runs, Suryakumar said that it would be important for the players to put on themselves, in order to do well in crunch scenarios. 

“It’s really important to put pressure on yourself when you are preparing for a game. If you do that in practice, it gets a little easier while playing the game. There is a lot of hard work involved but it’s about doing quality practice sessions. You should know what your game is and prepare accordingly,” Suryakumar was quoted as saying after bagging the Player of the Match award. 

“Boundaries behind are like 50-60 meters, so I was targeting them. There are some shots that are pre-determined but you need to have other shots too so that if the bowler changes his plan, you can have an answer. He (Dravid) just lets me enjoy myself. He tells me to just enjoy and express myself,” he added. 

Here’s how fans have reacted to Shoaib Akhtar’s statement: 

Sky without any doubt

— Tokyo (@atharv_takpire) January 7, 2023

ONE IS BORN IN IT OTHER IS FOLLOWING IT🫢👋😮‍💨🙏

— AKASH KAUNDAL (@AKASH__47__) January 7, 2023

A Pakistan player disrespecting ABD is what I see there.

— Sharon Solomon (@BSharan_6) January 7, 2023

I prefer ABD marginally for now – may change in the future.

— AK 7-4 (@Anshuma12603770) January 7, 2023

ABD❤️

— Harshit (@Virat_kohli2006) January 7, 2023

I would choose both😀

— Ramkumar Lodhi (@ramcricxpert) January 7, 2023

India Win Match🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

— NiK💛 (@HanbarNikita) January 7, 2023

AB de Villiers is not even foot of Surya!

The Real 360° of cricket history 👑

— R. (@123_Edgbaston) January 7, 2023

AB who?

— Irroh (@irroh45) January 7, 2023

any day ABD

— 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐯 (@Master___Cheif) January 7, 2023