A day after Kumar Sangakkara said Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hasn’t put in the kind of returns expected from him, Rajasthan Royals batting coach Vikram Rathour feels the youngster has produced what was needed. Sooryavanshi’s blazing start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) has faded over time, and although he is providing the team with brisk beginnings, the big scores have dried up. Since April 25, he has yet to score a fifty – even though there’s no shortage of 40s and 30s. Last evening, against the Delhi Capitals, Sooryavanshi missed his fifty by four runs, getting out to a slower delivery from Madhav Tiwari.
Is taking pace off finally Sooryavanshi’s kryptonite? Not quite, insisted Rathour. In fact, the batting coach challenged bowlers to keep trying it against him so he could improve. The Arun Jaitley Stadium surface did aid variations, such as slower balls, which could trouble batters. But does Sooryavanshi carry a long-term vulnerability against them? Absolutely not.
“Nobody is perfect. Everybody will have some weakness here and there. Slow ball isn’t a weakness for Vaibhav. I will want bowlers to try that. On a wicket like this, where the ball is gripping a bit, a change of pace is good against anybody,” Rathour said after RR’s five-wicket defeat to Delhi.
“It’s not only Vaibhav who is a special player. I think enough has been said about his ability and how good he is. So, again, he’s provided us a really good start, looking at the surface again. I just hope he converts one inning and goes deeper. And the way he’s batting, the way he prepares, I’m sure that’s not too far off. We’ll see one of those innings which he’ll really convert and play a big knock. But otherwise, we are pretty happy with the way he’s batting and we want him to bat that way.”
Play your own way
Sooryavanshi has been heavily backed to continue playing the way he does. Even against the Capitals, he faced just 26 balls and scored at a strike rate of over 200. His batting partner, Dhruv Jurel, with whom he added 80 runs for the second wicket, scored 53 off 40. Riyan Parag’s 51 off 26 was the show-stealer, although the combined efforts of the trio weren’t enough to secure a win for the Royals. Rathour stressed the importance of playing according to the situation and cited Virat Kohli as an example to explain his point of view.
“If you back your strengths and play to your strengths, you can score runs. Dhruv [Jurel] need not bat like Vaibhav. Vaibhav shouldn’t look to bat like Dhruv. They have their own ways of scoring runs. If they keep backing that and keep believing in their ability, they can succeed easily. You have seen that happening. Somebody like Virat, who is still extremely successful, even in this format. I wouldn’t call him an out-and-out power-hitting player. That tells you that there is scope for everybody to succeed, provided you have belief in your abilities,” Rathore added.
