BENGALURU: Among professional pursuits, sport is an outlier. A dot in the extreme corner of a graph. You never hear about a promising 15-year-old banker, a 14-year-old teacher or a 16-year-old doctor. Maybe the odd actor or musician can steal the limelight as a teen, but sport? Wunderkinds are dime a dozen, and stakeholders are expected to weigh in.
Which is why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, remains in the news. This newspaper wrote about him before the series against New Zealand and will be writing about him for a second time in under a week. After Shreyas Iyer spoke about him in the pre-tournament press conference, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was forced to speak about him before the second T20I, scheduled at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.
He was put on the spot because Ishan Kishan’s injury-enforced absence has opened a left-handed vacancy at the top of India’s batting order. Will the kid from Bihar — already India’s most famous 15-year-old — play? Will India ask one of Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson, one of cricket’s most dynamic opening partnerships in this format, to drop down to No. 3? Will Sooryavanshi be padded to come in at No. 3, a position he has never played in before for India in eight outings?
It was kind of why Kotak suggested that the hype around the sport’s hottest property was veering towards unhealthy territory. "I felt that at the start, there was a lot of hype that 'he has to play',” Kotak said on Friday. “I genuinely felt that wasn't good for the player also. Just a 15-16-year-old boy, and everyone saying 'he should play' and 'he isn't being picked' and so on. He is too young. It's something I can't control but it's sad. And it's sad for the other openers also, who are performing but people are saying 'why is he playing.’”
Even though there has been a constant source of white noise with respect to Sooryavanshi, who’s perhaps the only cricketer who makes more news when he’s not in the team sheet, he himself has understood the dynamics of a team. "Now he is much more mature,” Kotak said. “He understood that Sanju is playing well, or Abhishek is playing well… how can they be left out," Kotak said. "The middle-order is also packed. Everyone understands that, but of course he wants to play. If I were in his place, I would too. But he is a simple boy. It's not like he has complained or looked downcast. See, hitting ability is one thing, and the things you learn by being at this level day after day is another thing. He will learn that. This (waiting for his turn) will do a lot of good to him."
The things that set him apart, even at his tender age, are great hand-eye coordination, a clean bat swing, role clarity and belief in his own methodology. So, why exactly has he played in under 50 per cent of all matches for the national team since making his debut? It goes back to team dynamics and understanding how a team works. But the team management also has to do a delicate balancing act because they also have a duty of care to a 15-year-old. "He is really young,” Kotak said. “But the way everyone in the team management takes care of him - I keep an eye neutrally - and everyone likes him, social media likes him, team also likes him. But you can't make changes to the XI because people like him. He is very talented, and I believe he has a bright, bright future ahead. So once he gets his opportunities and settles down, he will learn a lot of things."
Will he play on Saturday? It’s likely he will feature. Will he retain his place irrespective of whether Kishan recovers in time for the third T20I? Maybe not. But that’s perfectly alright because the team management and the support staff have decided to put the needs of the team ahead of a 15-year-old whose time will most definitely come. It could even be in a few hours’ time.