CHENNAI: About 45 days ago, when the Rajasthan Royals landed in Hyderabad for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they were on a high. They had remained unbeaten in the first four games, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had already stamped his authority on world-class bowlers, making the cricket fraternity sit up and understand why he is a batting prodigy and not a flash in the pan.
It seemed like nothing could stop him. He had taken on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj with such disdain that he seemed invincible.
Then came Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain. The young SRH pacers, backed by Ehsan Malinga, rattled the Royals like never before, reducing them to 9/5 in a 200+ chase. In the process, they also showed there were cracks in RR and Sooryavanshi’s batting as the teenager got out for a first-ball duck. Later, Hinge would reveal how he wanted to get the teen sensation off a bouncer in the first ball. Round one went to Hinge and SRH.
However, Sooryavanshi, as said before, is not just any other up-and-coming cricketer. He took it to heart but did not say much about it. The teenager bounced back and got the team back on track as well. Then came the chance to make a statement in Round 2 when SRH visited Jaipur.
Sooryavanshi was not going to let that chance go. He smashed a 36-ball century before getting out on the very next ball. The shy, reserved teenager does not answer much in front of the mic, but with the bat in hand, he said he is not going anywhere, and he is here to stay. SRH went on to win the match — in fact, they have beaten RR twice this season — but Sooryavanshi won Round 2 with his bat.
On Wednesday, Sooryavanshi will go up against SRH for a Round 3 — a knockout round — in New Chandigarh. And this time, the teenager with numbers as ludicrous — 583 runs at 41.64 average and 232.27 strike rate — as Bumrah’s economy last season (6.68 RPO), would want to get one up against SRH and knock them out. For SRH, while the task is not just getting him out, the 15-year-old is easily their biggest hurdle.
How can he be stopped? The teenager has a batting range and arc where he can hit anywhere between point and fine-leg with a bat swing as impactful as someone like Yuvraj Singh, especially early on. Irfan Pathan, an expert on JioHotstar's 'Champions Waali Commentary', a dedicated digital feed in Hindi on CTV featuring former IPL champions who share never-heard-before tales, had explained in an earlier interaction: “Personally, I would not like to see him being stopped, right (laughs)?. When you see him play, it's always a very special feeling to see a 15-year-old boy going out there and facing guys like Rabada, Mohammad Siraj, and actually targeting them. And I personally feel that he targets the big bowlers, which is sort of true. But look, he enjoys the challenge. He's got the talent. Last time, his maturity was shown in the game between Gujarat and Rajasthan. Who will be stopping him? I seriously feel that behind the point and third man, that's the area to make him play. That's one way to actually keep quiet and maybe get him out. But there is a yorker, another option. So, who can bowl the yorker in that particular game? That bowler might be able to stop him. But I personally don't want him to be stopped at any stage.”
Former India pacer and JioStar expert Vinay Kumar, meanwhile, wants the bowlers to stick to their strengths and not get rattled. “He's been playing phenomenal cricket. But the thing is, as a bowler, you need to look to bowl your best ball. Yes, he will come very aggressively up front. But still, you need to stick to your basics,” he had said.
“Whenever you feel he's going hard, maybe going away from him, keeping away towards the wide line is a much better option. Even in the last game (vs Lucknow), he was a bit lucky. He tried to hit a big shot, and I think the top edge fell in between mid-on and mid-off. Something like that might happen in a game. Whenever given an opportunity, you need to encash those opportunities. Other than that, sometimes the batters will have that purple patch. Whatever they do, everything falls into place. But as a bowler, if I am bowling to Vaibhav, I will look to stick to my strength. And you miss I hit, that is the theory. If he's going hard, try to keep away from him or look to cramp him. The more variations you use against him, that will be more useful,” the former Karnataka captain explained.
The pace attack, led by Pat Cummins, is definitely capable of doing that. But it will come down to how Sooryavanshi counters them and can he do enough damage to get the Royals across the line and into Qualifier 2? Either way, it promises to be a mouth-watering contest.