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Updated on: Nov 12, 2025 10:19 pm IST
AB de Villiers accepted Suryakumar Yadav’s request for help with finding balance between formats, and gave him a promise.
Known as one of the great white-ball batters in the history of cricket, the esteem that AB de Villiers is held in by a certain generation of cricketers is clear to see. The South African batter will be remembered as an unorthodox trailblazer in the T20 format for what he achieved with the bat, but the numbers show that he was in fact an even stronger batter in ODI cricket – and in fact one of the best to ever do it.
Given that, it was no surprise that Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav saw him as the right man to ask regarding how best to manage the balance between the two formats. In an interview with Vimal Kumar, India’s answer to Mr. 360 had taken a moment to ask de Villiers directly for some tips to maintain that balance as he tries to become more well-rounded across formats.
The Proteas legend took time out in a video shared to his YouTube channel to respond to Suryakumar Yadav, and while he did not provide any easy answers up front, he tried to convince the Indian captain to appear on his show and have a real in-depth look at what could be done not just for ODIs, but also Test cricket.
“I have a lot of questions to ask him. I’ll start preparing for his questions as well,” said de Villiers on YouTube. “Regarding the balancing of formats, I am not sure he has big hopes and dreams of playing Test cricket. I don’t think he’ll throw it away. But on finding consistency between ODIs and T20s, I’ll do my homework and give SKY a good answer,” promised de Villiers.
Yadav last played an ODI in 2023 World Cup final
While Yadav is amongst the best T20 batters of his generation, captaining India and earning MVP honours in IPL 2025, he hasn’t quite found the key in ODI cricket, in which he averages just 25. He was drafted into India’s team for the 2023 World Cup but struggled in his role as a finisher, and hasn’t played the 50-over format since that final.
He has certainly turned to the right man, with de Villiers having averaged over 53 and struck at more than run-a-ball in ODI cricket during his career, including 25 centuries to go with his 22 tons in Tests. Given his pedigree as a player with a 150 strike-rate in all T20 cricket as well, there are few players who can claim to be as versatile as the South African great.
