CHENNAI: Long before the first ball of the Duleep Trophy final was bowled, fans, who had already started filling the stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, let out a huge roar. The reason? East Zone won the toss and chose to bat first against South, and soon, fans would be cheering for the star boy of Indian cricket — Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Their first wish had been answered.
As word spread about the 15-year-old prodigy batting, fans started queuing in long lines along Victoria Hostel Road. The lower section of the C, D, and E stands were already full as they cheered loudly when Vaibhav walked out to bat with Abhimanyu Easwaran. This summit clash was always going to attract fans with Mohammed Siraj, Devdutt Padikkal and Tilak Varma in action, and Chennai always showed up for their love of cricket at its cauldron in Chepauk.
Sunday, however, was mostly about Vaibhav; at least for the first hour and a half. The 15-year-old, playing his first five-day red-ball contest, started patiently as fans continued to throng the stands; by now, the lower ones were full, and they had moved on to the upper stands. If there were any doubts about who was the star attraction, the field set in the first over said it all. When Vaibhav came on strike, South had five fielders on the ropes — long-on, long-off, deep point, deep square and third man. However, Vaibhav, facing Siraj and MD Nidheesh, did not fall for the ploy. He stayed inside the line and played the ball within the crease. He barely stretched his hands away from his body and used the crease to the fullest to stay on the back foot.
The Chennai crowd, known for appreciating good cricket, watched in patience too. Then came the breakaway shot as Vaibhav drove Siraj through the square for his first boundary. And that was just the beginning. He still stuck to ground shots and played with a straighter bat, working the ball around. When the pacers hit the right lines on the red soil surface, Vaibhav stayed inside the line to ride the bounce with ease. There was one play and miss where he pushed at a delivery outside off-stump from Nidheesh, but barring that, Vaibhav looked in control on a pitch that had little to no demons.
What made him stand out was the way he stood tall and played the pacers off the back foot through the off-side. A few of them were singles, but on one occasion, he timed the ball so well that he found the gap between point and gully for four off Siraj. And such was his reputation that it did not take long for the field to spread.
That, however, did not stop Vaibhav. When he saw a full delivery from Siraj on the slot, he launched the veteran into the sight-stands on the seventh over of the day. And that was the first six of the innings, one that came off the 21st ball he faced. Every boundary, every run, every shot he played was appreciated. If one were to approximate, a little over ten thousand fans were there by the time Vaibhav got under a length delivery to loft Siraj down the ground.
Only seven overs had been completed, the scoreboard read 45/0, and Vaibhav was batting on 34 from 24 balls without taking much risk. With Easwaran too looking comfortable, South was forced to introduce a spinner in Tripurana Vijay. Over the next few overs, Easwaran took charge and soon cruised to his half-century as well. But those who had packed the stands were waiting for every ball Vaibhav was on strike. Watching all of this from the stands was chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
Every boundary that Vaibhav scored in the first hour, every time Siraj or an India star chased it to the ropes, the roar from the stands only got louder. For many, it was a chance to get a glimpse of their stars, which is usually harder during international matches and the Indian Premier League. With the Tamil Nadu State Cricket Association (TNCA) announcing free entry for fans, the majority of the fans had turned up for Vaibhav. As he closed in on his fifty, anticipation only grew and so did the number of fans in the stands. It seemed like they were in for a treat with the teenager putting up a big score.
However, their wishes were short-lived as a miscued pull off left-arm pacer CV Milind meant the teenager fell for 44 from 37 balls. A few thousand stayed back to watch and appreciate the rest of the day’s play, but most of those who had turned up to watch Vaibhav left by lunch. Shikhar Mohan (85), Easwaran, and Ishan Kishan (111) took East Zone to 385/4 at stumps, but for the 93 minutes Vaibhav batted, Chepauk sounded like a full stadium, cheering on a star in the making.
Two years ago, when Vaibhav first turned up at this venue for India U19 in a Youth Test against Australia, he smashed a 62-ball 104 as a 13-year-old. Back then, the match was played behind closed doors, but Vaibhav had already shown glimpses of what was to come to the few parents and reporters who were at the venue.
On Sunday, however, it was different. As Kishan walked off to a standing ovation after a sensational hundred, scores of fans who had stayed back started chanting 'Vaibhav, vaibhav, vaibhav'. They stood close to the railings with paper, cab, mobile phone cases and anything else they had in their person to get an autograph from the 15-year-old. Vaibhav, holding his own amidst the chaos, obliged with autographs for close to ten minutes before walking back into the dressing room.
He may not have had a big score, but Sunday, perhaps, was the beginning of a new chapter for Vaibhav in red-ball cricket in front of the fans. And this one might go on for a very long time.