"He sweeps for six, I am not going to bowl a yorker to him" - Salman Butt recalls incident when Pakistan fast bowler was overawed by AB de Villiers

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has narrated an interesting incident where a fast bowler from his team refused to bowl a yorker to AB de Villiers in fear of being swept for six. Without naming the pacer, Butt recalled an exchange that took place between him and the cricketer during a World Cup match.

South Africa’s De Villiers was one of the most feared batters in world cricket during his playing days. He earned the nickname 'Mr. 360’ for his ability to smash the ball into almost every corner of a cricket ground.

The Proteas legend retired from international cricket in 2018. He continued playing in domestic T20 leagues before announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket last year.

Praising De Villiers, Butt shared an interesting anecdote about the fear he created in the minds of bowlers. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he recalled:

“I asked a genuine fast bowler, I won’t name him, why he didn’t bowl a yorker to ABD during a World Cup match. He told me, ‘he sweeps for six, I am not going to bowl a yorker to him’. That was the kind of impact he made on genuine fast bowlers, who bowled at over 150 kph. I don’t think any player like that has even picked up a bat in recent years.”

De Villiers represented South Africa in 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20Is, scoring over 20,000 international runs.

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“Too early to compare him with De Villiers” - Butt reacts to Ponting’s praise of Suryakumar Yadav

In a recent episode of The ICC Review show, Aussie legend Ricky Ponting paid a massive compliment to Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav, stating that he bats a bit like De Villiers did in his prime.

Reacting to Ponting’s comment, Butt said that it was too early to speak about the two in the same vein. Sharing his thoughts, the former Pakistani batter said:

“Suryakumar has just started playing international cricket. He is talented and has played some very good knocks. But it is too early to compare him to De Villiers. We need to wait and watch. He has to play some big international games and I am sure he will do well. But no one has yet played cricket like ABD did.”

Suryakumar has played 13 ODIs and 23 T20Is for India, scoring 340 and 672 runs, respectively.