Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fast bowler, Harshal Patel has said that former South Africa skipper, AB de Villiers was one step better than Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav. Patel is set to go head-to-head with Suryakumar as RCB takes on MI at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Patel said RCB would have to bank on their planning to prevent Suryakumar from going berserk while adding that De Villiers was one step ahead of the Indian batter because he can manipulate the bowler. AB de Villiers represented RCB for 10 years in the IPL, scoring 4491 runs for them.

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As per the quotes in India Today, Harshal Patel said, “Someone of Surya’s calibre, who’s in the kind of form that he is in, all you can bank on is your planning and execution. What he does after that is up to him. This is not the first time I have encountered this problem. AB was one step better than Surya, in the sense that he would make you bowl where he wanted.”

Harshal Patel spoke about Suryakumar’s ability to take the ball off his body, adding that not many players are okay with that.

Explaining the same, Harshal Patel said, “Surya will sweep you from almost outside the pitch on off stump. Another ability he has is to take the ball on his body all the time. It’s one thing to take the ball on your body and play in front of the square but if you are trying to play behind square and if it comes out a little slower or a little faster, it’s going to hit you. And you have to be okay with that. I don’t think many players are.”

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Suryakumar is the number 1 ranked T20I batter in the world and will be expected to fire for MI to cement his spot for the upcoming ODI World Cup in October.