When Laxman saw him crying in dressing room...': VVS' recommendation to Dravid, BCCI's backing changed Vaibhav's career
It took all of one ball in the IPL for the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi to reveal something essential about him. His lofted drive inside-out for a six was not only an announcement of his arrival in the big league but also a testament to his unfazed and fearless approach to batting, leaving no respect for the bowler irrespective of their reputation.
The audacity under the lights was visible. But it was the question of who Suryavanshi was beyond the spectacle: in training sessions, around big, established cricketers who know their drills, habituated to the pressures and limelight, aware of what's expected of them and what the opposition has to offer?
Despite scoring a record century, the 'too-young' Suryavanshi wasn't sent to explain his side of the story. On Monday, following the win against Gujarat Giants, Vikram Rathore, the batting coach of Rajasthan Royals, turned up to present his version instead.
"He's been exactly like what you've seen him on the pitch," confessed Rathore. "He isn't intimidated by anyone in the nets. He takes on Jofra, who is one of the toughest bowlers to face in the nets; awkward and quick.
"But he really takes him on. Again." Just as Rathore was completing his explanation, the lights and sound went off. Call it cosmic intervention if you must, but no one was, by design at least, taking the spotlight away from Suryavanshi on April 28, 2025. Ask Sai Sudarshan who bagged the Orange Cap. Ask Shubman Gill, who stroked another majestic half-century. Ask Jos Buttler, who sent a reminder about what Rajasthan Royals lost. Ask Yashasvi Jaiswal, who himself dazzled with an unbeaten half-century in a successful run chase.
Under Jaipur's floodlights, Suryavanshi, the boy from the "clan of the sun" lived up to the name, shining the brightest among all the stars.
In pursuit of a target, which opponents Gujarat Titans believed was above par, Suryavanshi took little time to dictate the terms of the play, getting off the mark by despatching Mohammed Siraj for a 90-meter six over long on.
He was unafraid to hit over the in-field even when obvious traps were laid out. Even though the blueprint to thrive on the Jaipur surface was already provided by Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler earlier in the game, en route their respective brisk half-centuries, Suryavanshi designed one of his own.
As he unleashed his big bat-swing, not everything hit the middle of his bat. In fact by the time he had touched the half-century mark in the fifth over, 38 percent of his attempted shots were false strokes. Much of it didn't matter.
In the over preceding that, bowled by Ishant Sharma, two edges ran past the ropes and one over it. The edges that delivered those boundaries for Vaibhav were merely salt added to the wounds of the experienced pacer. Just a ball before he was lured to slash outside off, a delivery on his pads was nonchalantly flicked into the roof of the stands, with a no-look follow-up.
Ishant went for 28 in that over. Washington went for 21 in the next. A couple of overs later, Prasidh was blasted for 17 and Karim Janat for 30.
His record-breaking innings was replete with ample luck as it was with emphatic strokeplay. If we were to borrow Albert Greenfield's theory, luck happens to the competent. While there were ample cuts and pulls that took the top edge, there were also many more unfazed pulls, thunderous drives, powerful flicks and audacious chips over the in-field which forced bowlers to alter their lines.
Suryavanshi has the range, and the skills - both tested, and now displayed. To explain it in technical language, Sachin Tendulkar put down Suryavanshi's success to his 'fearless approach, bat speed, picking the length early, and the energy behind the ball.' Rathore summed it up in two words: great downswing.
Rathore testified that the Royals coaching staff wasn't surprised by what Suryavanshi produced on Monday. They had seen enough evidence of that over the last four months. What impressed them was that he could do that at the biggest stage, against the best bowling attack of the tournament this season.
On the surface, all of this seems like any other high-scoring IPL game of the Impact Player era, where the bowlers are hapless spectators to surfaces made for boundary fests, the kind of which has subdued the fascination of fast-scoring centuries. On the surface, Suryavanshi could be just another talented young cricketer joining the already long beeline of youngsters who continue to show the rich wealth of talent that resides in the near obscurity of Indian domestic cricket and deeper. Like Ayush Mhatre. Like Priyansh Arya.
What makes this innings exceptional, though, according to Rathore, is that Suryavanshi is only 14 years old.
That age indeed becomes significant to understand the magnitude of what played out on Monday evening at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. To offer perspective, Ishant had started playing international cricket nearly four years before Suryavanshi was born.
The context of age remains also critical in understanding why unlike many other blazing knocks played in the IPL, this one would especially be remembered. Not just because it's the fastest IPL century by an Indian, and the second fastest ever in the history of the tournament, but because no one in any part of the world has registered a T20 century at an age younger than Suryavanshi's 14 years and 32 days.
That Suryavanshi has achieved something that no one his age anywhere in the world could, deepens the wonder. Turn age-agnostic and the story takes a different turn.
Rathore, in his limited vocabulary, ran out of adjectives to explain Suryavanshi's performance. Exceptional. Spectacular. Special. But in all extreme expressions offered to the innings, he was mindful to caution against going overboard with comparisons and expectations. "He's just starting out," Rathore warned. "He's a special kid and a special talent. If he keeps working hard, he'll go a long way."
As Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the last international cricketer who played for Bihar, heads into the sunset of his career, another ray of hope has emerged from the state. His batting style, as explained by Tendulkar and Rathore - fearless, powerful and a great downswing. Deja vu?
In Suryavanshi's career lie many threads of interest. The road stretches out before him. Already, without seeking it, he has stepped into the light.
