AB de Villers vs Surya Kumar Yadav: Who is Better 360-Degree Batter in Cricket?

The popularity of the shortest format of Cricket, T20s, has grown enormously throughout the world. The format has received much respect from International cricket to multiple Domestic Leagues. 

The T20 format is officially over one and a half decades old now. With its growth has risen the likelihood and the demand for unique and unrealistic shots, bowling styles, fielding standards, and records.  One of the most important aspects of T20 cricket, as recognized by cricketing pundits, is the ability to do 360-degree batting.

Magnificent Players like Chris Gayle have made the format famous with consistent runs. The leading man of the West Indies has 14562 runs in T20 Which is an insane number! 

Talking about India’s leading T20 run scorer Virat Kohli whose Cover Drives are pure beauty and perfection. Next, talking about Rohit Sharma, the man who has scored the most number of centuries in T20Is (4), with Surya Kumar  Yadav following his legacy (3). 

However, the revolution in this format is brought has brought 360-degree batting to the game. This technique requires batters to play 360 degrees shots around the ground. This style of batting is pleasing to the eye and opens up the field for the batter to pick up runs almost at will.

In this article, we will compare the personal and comparative statistics of these two exceptional players to see how they differentiate themselves from their peers and each other, but first, let’s know what does a 360-degree batter mean?

What is 360-degree batting in cricket?

A 360-degree batting in cricket is an astonishing ability to hit the ball across the ground leaving no boundaries empty. Be it towards the difficult positions like the deep backward point, the fine leg, the third man, or the easy ones straight, long off or the long on, the leg-side or the off-side, the 360-degree batter in T20 Cricket does not discriminate any boundaries and smashes the ball all across the park for the boundary for a four or for a maximum hit going for a six. 

Practice and determination help the batsmen conquer this feat, and only a few batsmen have made it to this quest. Slowly, the batsmen are making evident progress to showcase and get ahead with their talents of playing across the field in other formats as well. During the initial and death overs of ODIs, batsmen now look towards playing the field and hit shots in rare parts of the ground. 

Let’s check out the two most likeable candidates for the award of the Best 360 Degree Batter in cricket. 

AB de Villiers vs Surya Kumar Yadav: 360-Degree Batting Comparative Analysis

There has been a constant chatter going on among a lot of netizens, cricket legends, and experts about who is the best 360 Degrees batter in T20 cricket. The banter is among the two cricketers, AB de Villiers and Surya Kumar  Yadav. Both players have exceptional and flattering batting styles. Their unique cricket shot selection and batting style have been the talk of the town. 

Many former professional cricket players, as well as aspiring cricketers, admire the talents of AB de Villiers and Surya Kumar Yadav. While AB de Villiers has had a remarkable cricket career for the South African cricket team, young Indian batter Surya Kumar  Yadav is aspiring to achieve greatness and meet the bars set by the former South African Champion player. Both the players have shined bright and have showcased their skills on the big stage of international cricket for their respective teams. 

AB De Villers’s Profile 

Even though the South African cricketing Legend AB de Villers has now retired from all forms of Cricket, his contribution to his national and domestic teams stands remarkably tall in the history of the sport.

Be it for his national team South Africa, in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore, or even any other domestic team AB De Villiers has written a new definition of batting in the T20 format of the game.

He is popularly called “Mr. 360” by the fans for his ability to hit all around the ground, irrespective of the lengths of the boundaries. His statistics in the sport and his phenomenal records stand testimony to it. 

AB has been considered a saviour by the fans during crucial knock-out games. The team management has always shown faith in him to bat either at the top or middle-down the order so he can save the team and put huge scores on the board while taking fewer deliveries.

With his unique shot selection style, he has been given this title. He masters unique and difficult shots like Reverse Sweep, Slogger sweep, lofted straight drive, and fine sweep. Here are some of the professional details of AB de Villiers – 

Surya Kumar Yadav’s Profile 

Surya Kumar Yadav is a budding Indian cricketer who debuted in International cricket for the country in 2021. The 32-Year old spent the longest time of his youth playing on the field in the Indian Premier League for Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians. The batter is best known for his attacking and aggressive batting style. Surya is versatile enough to bat at any number in the order.

The team always expects high-scoring knocks from him and counts on him as their most trusted batter. His game makes him stand different from others as he usually plays unique shots like an overhead scoop, pull shot, reverse sweep, and many more to score boundaries that usually end up going for huge sixes.

Surya usually plays towards the back of the On (Leg) side which is a rare area to score boundaries. Here are some of the professional details of Surya Kumar Yadav – 

Statistical Analysis between AB de Villiers and Surya Kumar Yadav 

Both AB de Villiers and Surya Kumar Yadav have incredible statistics concerning the time they have spent on the field. Even though, when compared together, AB de Villiers is far ahead in scored runs and boundaries than Surya Kumar Yadav. The Indian batter has spent only a few years in professional cricket, but his name is already being compared to the legendary South African. 

After Indian Cricket Team locked horns with the Zimbabwe match in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Surya Kumar  Yadav was questioned about his take on the comparison between him and Mr AB de Villiers as a 360-degree batter in cricket.

To which Surya Kumar  Yadav replied, “There is only one batter who is 360 degrees in the world, and he is trying to be like him.” Surya Kumar  Yadav himself declared AB de Villiers as the better 360-degree batter and claimed that he aspires to be like him as a cricketer. 

AB De Villiers acknowledged Surya Kumar  Yadav’s comment and accepted that the young Indian batter is moving fast. AB de Villiers replied to Surya Kumar  Yadav by saying, “You are fast moving in that direction, and go ahead of me too.” 

Here is a statistical comparison of the duo – 

AB de Villiers was always considered a ‘Once in an Era’ kind of player and will always be remembered as a pioneer of 360-degree batting in cricket. Ever since Surya Kumar  Yadav was introduced by India to International cricket, he has been a remarkable player whose batting is always anticipated. 

He brings a thrill to his knock. Concerning the time he has spent on the field, he is already close to reaching the runs scored by the legendary batter AB de Villiers in the T20 Internationals, while the other two formats wait for his cricketing storm.

Everyone shall look forward to Surya conquering the legacy built by AB de Villiers in the future, irrespective of the fact that they belong to different nations.