Suryakumar Yadav has asked AB de Villiers to help revive his ODI career. Suryakumar was part of India’s 2023 World Cup squad and played in the final loss to Australia. The 35-year-old’s rise in the T20 format forced the selectors to push the Mumbai batter into ODIs, but the move proved lackluster.
In 37 ODIs, Suryakumar scored 773 runs at an average of 25.76 with four fifties to his credit. Current Indian T20I captain performance in the 2023 World Cup finals was criticized and has not been part of an over-50 team since.
In an interview with Vimal Kumar, Suryakumar said he wants to meet De Villiers about how the former South African captain managed to manage both ODIs and T20Is effectively. The batsman said he felt that ODIs need to be played in the same manner as T20Is.
Suryakumar then sent his SOS message to De Villiers asking him to get in touch with him quickly as he wants to maximize the next three to four years.
“If I meet him soon, I would like to ask him how he managed to balance his T20I and ODI game. I couldn’t. I thought ODIs should be played like T20Is. I want to ask him what he did to be successful in both formats. AB, if you’re listening, get back to me very quickly because we have three four years of playing ODIs too. Please help me, I couldn’t balance T20Is and ODIs,” said Suryakumar.
De Villiers was regarded as one of the best in ODIs and T20Is during his playing career. The South African scored 9577 runs in 228 ODIs and scored 1672 runs in 78 T20Is.
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Published on:
November 4, 2025
