The Vaibhav Sooryavanshi madness has reached such heights that a group of English cricketers, including Stuart Broad and friends, have formed a WhatsApp group that lights up every time the teenage sensation takes off. Broad, in an interaction with former England teammate Jos Buttler, revealed that every time they feel they have figured out a plan or found a way to stop him, Sooryavanshi pulls out something different that catches them by surprise.
After going quiet for a few matches by his own standards, Sooryavanshi bludgeoned 93 to help Rajasthan Royals gun down 220 posted by the Lucknow Super Giants the other night. In the process, Sooryavanshi not only reclaimed the Orange Cap but also became the youngest batter to breach the 500-run mark in a single season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I’ve got a little WhatsApp group that’s with mates who love their cricket, and every time he gets going, it’s like, ‘He’s off again – 43 off 17’. And then it comes back, ‘I thought we’d worked him out – bouncer and Yorker theory,’” said Broad.
‘Sooryavanshi one step ahead of everyone’
Buttler, in particular, couldn’t stop raving about Sooryavanshi. Earlier in the tournament, he had even dubbed him ‘AI’ after meeting the youngster. Having already shattered multiple records in the two seasons he has played for RR so far, Sooryavanshi is now closing in on perhaps the greatest accolade of his young career. He is just six sixes away from equalling Universe Boss Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL season. With RR’s final game of the campaign coming against the Mumbai Indians, there is every chance he could get there, let alone better it.
“And talking about sixes, our friend Vaibhav smashed a few sixes again last night. He’s now hit the most sixes for sure by an Indian player in an IPL. He’s over 50 (53) sixes, I think, in the season. And I think it’s only Gayle who’s just ahead of him with maybe one or two more sixes for the all-time record for most sixes in a season,” Buttler said.
“I’ve watched him bat in the powerplay, The stats galore, right? Balls per boundary in the powerplay is two. So every other ball in the powerplay, he hits a four or a six, which is just crazy. Chris Gayle – best T20 player to ever play the game, I think, especially in terms of six-hitting – is the record with 59.
“He’s one step ahead of everyone.”
