West Indian speedster Kesrick Williams has dawned the colours of New York Strikers for the Abu Dhabi T10 Season 6. The 32-year-old from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who featured for the Karnataka Tuskers in the 2019 season, will feature under the leadership of fellow West Indian Kieron Pollard in 2022.
When asked which batter he looks forward to bowling in T20Is in the future, Williams mentioned his desire to go up against the current world no.1 T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav.
Suryakumar Yadav one of the toughest guys to bowl against: Kesrick Williams
Since his T20 International debut against England in 2021, India’s Suryakumar Yadav, also known as SKY, has deranged opposition bowlers with his mesmerizing shot-making and consistency. SKY has amassed 1408 runs in 42 T20Is at an average of 44.00 and a strike-rate of 180.97.
“When I look at Suryakumar bat, I wonder which areas the bowler should focus on against this guy. You can’t bowl on his hips, can’t bowl too wide and can’t bowl too straight because the way he plays, he creates his own shots,” stated Williams.
“For a modern-day cricketer, Suryakumar Yadav is one of the toughest guys to bowl to in T20 Internationals,” added the Strikers’ pacer.
Kesrick Williams won the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2016 with the Jamaica Tallawahs and finished as the third-highest wicket-taker.
Williams has picked up 146 wickets in his T20 career in only 112 innings. Even with his vast experience, Williams explained that it is extremely difficult to bowl to Suryakumar Yadav in T20s, considering his ability to create shots. SKY makes it difficult for the bowlers by finding gaps in the field, which does not allow bowlers to use a pre-decided strategy.
“I will work with the team’s requirements. I feel Suryakumar is incredible and he strives off pace. As a bowler, you constantly need to change your lengths, your pace and can’t bowl the same lines. Mix the lengths and pace up as much as possible and look at Suryakumar’s movement as long as possible before releasing the ball,” said Williams when asked about his plans against SKY.
Suryakumar Yadav has smashed 1164 T20I runs in 2022, the most by a batter this year and the second-best in the all-time records. SKY also created the record for most sixes by in a year in T20Is, tonking 68 in 2022.
Williams was left in awe of the Indian batter and lavished heavy praises on his performances at the international level.
“He is very very dangerous. I love to see Suryakumar bat. I can sit and watch him bat all day. He times the ball really well. He can do a lot of good things for India,” concluded Williams.
After the opening three games, New York Strikers are third in the ADT10 Season 6 points table with four points. Kesrick Williams and Co. go up against the unbeaten Morrisville Samp Army on Monday, November 28, 2022.
