CHENNAI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was in disbelief. He stood there, in the middle of the pitch, not wanting to leave the field at the New PCA Stadium on Wednesday night. The 15-year-old was a few metres away from breaking the long-standing record of Chris Gayle (in 30 balls), smashing the quickest century ever in the history of Indian Premier League.
However, it was not to be. Sooryavanshi had just holed out in the deep against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator after a breathtaking 97 from 29 balls. A six or four off the attempted slap over thirdman off Praful Hinge would have etched his name in the history books — its already there, just another chapter would have been added.
Even as he stood there, distraught, SRH players, almost every single one of them, came to the teenager, patted him on the back. Sooryavanshi, eventually, walked off the field to a standing ovation from his dug out, his opponents and the packed stands.
The teenager, who has racked up 680 runs, may have missed out on a historic century, but history was made. During his 29-ball stay where Sooryavnashi took on the best in the business, he smashed 12 sixes across the park. Of which, four came off Pat Cummins and Sakib Hussain each, three off Hinge and one off Eshan Malinga. It is a trait he has shown through the season, taking on the best in the world. But the history part came when he surpassed the very same Gayle, who held the record for most sixes in a season (60), becoming the fastest man to hit as many maximums in a year with 65 sixes so far.
In the process, he also became the fastest to score 600+ runs in any IPL season — 242.85 strike rate across 15 games while leading batting charts is not just incredible, but also inevitable at this point. For in his second season, Sooryavanshi has shown that he is not a one season wonder, but a world-beating talent who is here to stay.
If there was ever a doubt about that, the 15-year-old cleared it all up after the previous contest against SRH where he smashed a 36-ball hundred. He spoke about how the mood in the dressing room was low, how he saw Hinge talk about his dismissal and why he wanted to do something special for the team. RR may have lost the game, but Sooryavanshi showed what it meant for him to succeed. It was also visible on Wednesday after getting out in the 90s for the second time this season — 38-ball 93 against Lucknow Super Giants on May 19.
May be, that is what makes this 29-ball 93 even more special — like that of Suresh Raina's 25-ball 87 for Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 2 against Kings XI Punjab in 2014. As sweet as a century would have been, it is often the 90s that have remained legendary. And Sooryavanshi would take it with both hands, especially knowing that this time, his team would be on the winning side, having a chance at going to the final.