Mumbai: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has captured the imagination of cricket fans and pundits worldwide with several former players backing his inclusion in India’s T20I squad to begin with. The teenage batting sensation has succeeded practically wherever he has played since making his IPL debut last year.
BCCI chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, however, has urged patience on the 15-year-old’s India call-up. Evaluating the likelihood of Sooryavanshi being handed his India debut soon, Agarkar told Tuesday’s media conference that, although the selectors are impressed, he will get his opportunity when the time is right.
“We picked him for India A because he is young and immensely promising. The idea is to give these youngsters exposure. Yashasvi Jaiswal is already part of the ODI set-up as well. As impressive as Sooryavanshi has been, there are others who have performed strongly too. We are very excited about him and hopefully he can showcase his talent when he travels with the A team,” Agarkar said while announcing the squads for the home Test and ODIs against Afghanistan.
Later on Tuesday in Jaipur, the Rajasthan Royals opener served another reminder of his extraordinary batting ability to power his team to victory in the crucial game against Lucknow Super Giants. Needing to chase 221 to keep playoffs hopes alive, Sooryavanshi’s 93 off 38 balls turned it into a cruise.
It also added momentum to the talk for his India selection. Sooryavanshi’s bat speed, shot selection, fearlessness and decisiveness make him look like a generational talent. After Tuesday’s innings, he was atop the IPL run chart with 579 runs and 53 sixes.
When the entire cricket world is talking about your talent, the spotlight remains fixed on you. How to handle the prodigious talent from here on is going to be important for him to realise full potential.
Sachin Tendulkar is probably the only other cricketer to experience this kind of attention at such a young age. Rated highly since he was 15, he made his international debut at 16 years and 205 days. But in the late 1980s, in the pre-social media days, it was different. In this age of reels, stardom can be instant.
What happens when you attain celebrity status? It is not just about on-field performance; the demand on your time explodes. You are flooded with invitations to high-profile events, everyone wants a piece of you. You are constantly living in the public eye.
What his fellow cricketers admired about Tendulkar was how he balanced his life and playing career over two decades. Dealing with the demands can get on the nerves, and it has led to the downfall of players too.
Apart from his parents, few would know Sooryavanshi better than his childhood coach, Manish Kumar Ojha, a former Bihar Ranji cricketer.
So far, Sooryavanshi is untouched by the frenzy around him. From his words at the post-match presentations, it was clear he understands. “I don’t read papers and all, I just think this is the start and if I have a long career then a lot of things will be said. I just want to focus on my game,” he said.
Describing his personality, Ohja, who took him into his GenNext Coaching Academy in Patna as an eight-year-old, says, “Vaibhav was a normal child. He trained with us for a long time and he was so small that he would not be noticed among the senior boys. I rarely saw him interact with other players because everyone was bigger than him. In normal life also he doesn’t speak much and is polite.”
The India selectors are going step by step. Instead of picking Sooryavanshi straightaway in the senior squad, they named him last week in the India A one-day squad for the Sri Lanka tour in June.
Tendulkar received guidance from his family, the values instilled by his late father Ramesh, and the constant feedback from elder brother, Ajit. For Sooryavanshi it is his father Sanjeev.
“His father’s presence makes a difference, he looks more focussed and disciplined. Even in practice, he bats with a lot of focus. Before IPL, his father used to travel to all the venues of Vaibhav’s matches, interacting with him. Today also for any decision-making the parents are involved, that respect and love is maintained. He is connected with his roots,” said Ojha.
The best way to judge a player’s performance is from the opposing team’s reaction. After he was out, Sooryavanshi walked back to wholehearted applause from the LSG camp. Coach Justin Langer was effusive in his praise, saying the bowlers haven’t yet seen the best of Sooryavanshi.
“You know, people say to me, would Bradman have made so many runs in the days where, you know, they could wear helmets or blah, blah, blah, and I’d say, well, he would adapt,” Langer said. “Sooryavanshi’s that good. Wherever he plays, he’s going to adapt because I don’t see where they are going to bowl to him. He’ll keep getting better and better, which is scary for world cricket.”
