Riyan Parag could only marvel from the sidelines as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi tore into Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Guwahati on Monday, repeatedly asking himself, “Wow, how does he do it”. Meanwhile, Piyush Chawla and Ambati Rayudu were already debating whether the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter might be edging closer to an India call-up. Chawla admitted he “would love to see him fast-tracked” to the highest level, while Rayudu took a more measured stance, noting that the youngster was “definitely in the race”.
“He looks a cut above a lot of youngsters in the country, and he’s a talent that will definitely do wonders for Indian cricket. I don’t know when, but definitely in the future,” Rayudu said. “The way he has been batting and the freedom with which he has been batting, it’s a great testament to the fact that [RRs] management has been doing a wonderful job, not complicating things for him. And his shot-making – the ease with which he’s been taking on bowlers is unbelievable at this age.”
It is remarkable to remember that Sooryavanshi only turned 15 on March 27, and the support structure around him – both at RR and beyond – has played a crucial role in his development.
Backing the youngster
“The messaging to Vaibhav is like… we don’t put pressure on him and don’t want him to be aware of the noise outside. So it’s about what he likes doing. He likes batting, so we ensure that he gets to bat enough in the nets. If there’s something he likes to eat, we make sure that’s available for him,” Parag, RR’s captain, said at the post-match press conference.
“As far as what he does inside [the ground] is concerned, like Dhruv [Jurel] and I were sitting outside and the first two-three overs had been bowled, we were wondering how he was hitting the ball so well when the wicket was a bit sticky, it had some moisture. Like everyone in the stands, we also watch him the same way. We are also like ‘wow, how does he do it’. I feel he is a talent and I am very glad that he is in our team and not in another team.”
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Already a World Cup winner, Sooryavanshi earned Player-of-the-Tournament honours at the Under-19 World Cup in Harare earlier this year after scoring 439 runs across seven innings. His rapid rise has also seen him collect several milestones, including becoming the youngest IPL player, the youngest centurion in men’s T20 cricket, and the fastest to 150 in men’s List A matches.
Call-up talk gathers pace
“I think definitely the T20 format [for his maiden call-up]. If he has a very good IPL and if he shows that he has the ability to keep calm under pressure… because, don’t forget, our Indian team is a world champion team. It’s won the T20 World Cup. So to replace somebody in that side is not easy,” Rayudu said, possibly keeping Sooryavanshi’s age in mind. “To me, there are a few players ahead of him at the moment, because you tend to pick and build your teams ahead of the next ICC competition.
“There are enough cricketers who have been consistently doing well. So he is definitely in the race if I was the selector. But at the moment, there are a lot of guys who have been consistent for the last two or three years.”
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Chawla, however, believes Sooryavanshi’s exposure to top-level bowling in the IPL could ease any transition. “That’s the beauty of this IPL. At the age of 15, he is facing world-class bowlers. So, when he goes to the international level, he won’t be a stranger. It’s not that he hasn’t faced a 140(kph)-plus bowler. He has already done that. He has already smashed them,” Chawla said. “So he won’t be thinking that, ‘okay, I have to see him through and take my chances against the other bowlers, or the weaker bowling link’, so that’s the good thing.
“And if he plays like that, I would love to see him fast-tracked. Over the last year, in Under-19, domestic… whatever he has played, he went there and he scored hundreds. And it’s not only hundreds, he scored big hundreds.”
Fearless approach on display
Although he did not reach three figures on Monday, with the target set at just 128, Sooryavanshi’s innings once again underlined his aggressive mindset and appetite for big scores.
“I think it was just the way Sooryavanshi came in, he took his chances, you know,” Mike Hussey, CSK’s batting coach, said when asked whether their bowlers fell short while defending 127. “We did drop him once [by Kartik Sharma off the first ball Sooryavanshi had faced], it was a difficult catch, but if we take that catch, then you never know – you pick up a couple of quick ones, the pressure builds, the confidence of the bowlers builds.
“But when you’ve got a batsman there that is very clear on how he wants to play, and he’s going hard, going hard at every ball, and some days it’s going to come off and some days it’s not. Today, it came off for him.”
