Vaibhav Suryavanshi: The 14-year-old child prodigy India must fast-track like Sachin Tendulkar
NEW DELHI: At 5am IST on September 22, Zubin Bharucha ’s phone buzzed. It was a video call from Vaibhav Suryavanshi in Brisbane after India U19 's first youth one-day against Australia U19.
"This boy drives me crazy," Bharucha, Rajasthan Royals ' Director of High Performance, told TimesofIndia.com. "I asked him, ‘ Vaibhav , it is pretty early in India, what do you want to show me?’" Bharucha recalled asking the 14-year-old.
The teenager turned the camera towards the ground and asked, "Sir, ye light dekha apane? (Can you see this light?)"
A perplexed Bharucha replied, "I have never been to Brisbane in my life, Vaibhav."
"After a while, I realised, 'Oh, he's showing me the bloody light over there in Brisbane.' And he's telling me, ‘Sir, look at this light ek, do, teen, chaar khamba hai (There are four pillars).’"
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A baffled Bharucha asked Vaibhav to cut to the chase. "Maine bola haan kya karu abhi (I said yes, what can I do?)." Vaibhav got a bit annoyed and said, "Nahi sir, main kya samjha raha hoon aapko? Ye chaaron light hai na IPL mey ek khamba mey lagta hai (No sir, what am I even explaining to you? These four are lights, right? In the IPL, they’re installed on a single pole)."
Bharucha, still half-asleep, failed to understand Vaibhav's point: "I still didn't get what he was trying to say."
This got the teenager agitated, and he said: "Arey sir, ball nahi dikh raha idhar (I can't see the ball while playing)."
It left Bharucha smiling, and he replied, "Vaibhav, sabke liye same hi light hai (Everyone is playing under the same lights)."
Bharucha still doesn’t know whether his calming words helped the child prodigy , but if the scorecards are to be believed - they have made their mark and how! Vaibhav has set the Australian shores on fire.
After playing brisk cameos in the youth ODIs, he smoked a century in youth Tests. The boy, who made his first-class debut at 12, bagged his million-dollar IPL deal at 13, and then made history as the youngest player to hit a century in men’s T20s off just 35 balls.
Earlier this year, he hit the fastest century on record in youth ODIs against England at Worcester. He already has a big fan following. When he traveled to the UK, he was stopped for selfies at the airport, and fans reached the venue to get his autographs.
Yes, it is only a youth international, but he is the youngest player in either squads by two-and-a-half years. He has looked at least a level or two above the rest.
Amid all the glitz and glamour, Vikram Rathour, former India batting coach, who is currently with Rajasthan Royals, firmly believes that Suryavanshi is destined for big things.
"He's got a hundred in England, he's got a hundred in Australia. And you see what he can do in T20 cricket (IPL). Outstanding for a kid so young," Rathour told TimesofIndia.com.
"He is a prodigy. But the great thing about him is that he's not flustered at all. It's not that he scored his hundred and suddenly becomes a big name in Indian cricket at a young age. Nothing has changed. He's still so grounded and comfortable with all this suddenly happening around him. That's a great thing to have," he said.
Bharucha echoes Rathour's voice and goes a step further, requesting the selectors to "blood" him immediately.
"He should be blooded into the senior team immediately, like Sachin was all those years ago," said Bharucha.
"They have to blood this guy immediately, boss, because he is in another zone only. At least send him on an India A tour. Send him to India A immediately. I'm telling you, this Australian attack that is here, bowling to India A guys, he would have got a double hundred," he said.
Bharucha narrated a story from the IPL, when the teenager faced Jofra Archer in the nets.
"He smoked Jofra Archer in the nets. Jofra Archer, when he bowls in the nets, he's a demon. He never bowls a warm-up ball when the batter is there. He absolutely charges in. And actually, Jofra Archer knocked off Steve Smith's head in a practice session we had before the Ashes. Smith was struggling against him. From that day onwards, he never went inside the net when Jofra was bowling.
"When he was bowling to Vaibhav, I was scared, and this boy hit one shot on the back foot, and it went out of the stadium. All the coaching staff, even Jofra, were stunned," he said.
Bharucha and Rathour agree there are areas in his game that still need improvement. His love for mutton and rice is something that scares Bharucha, but with a bat in hand and his six-hitting prowess, he excites the former Mumbai batter, who feels the boy from Samastipur, Bihar, is a world-class talent—far beyond his years.
"This boy drives me crazy," Bharucha, Rajasthan Royals ' Director of High Performance, told TimesofIndia.com. "I asked him, ‘ Vaibhav , it is pretty early in India, what do you want to show me?’" Bharucha recalled asking the 14-year-old.
Everything is special about Vaibhav Suryavanshi: Vikram Rathour
The teenager turned the camera towards the ground and asked, "Sir, ye light dekha apane? (Can you see this light?)"
A perplexed Bharucha replied, "I have never been to Brisbane in my life, Vaibhav."
"After a while, I realised, 'Oh, he's showing me the bloody light over there in Brisbane.' And he's telling me, ‘Sir, look at this light ek, do, teen, chaar khamba hai (There are four pillars).’"
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
A baffled Bharucha asked Vaibhav to cut to the chase. "Maine bola haan kya karu abhi (I said yes, what can I do?)." Vaibhav got a bit annoyed and said, "Nahi sir, main kya samjha raha hoon aapko? Ye chaaron light hai na IPL mey ek khamba mey lagta hai (No sir, what am I even explaining to you? These four are lights, right? In the IPL, they’re installed on a single pole)."
Bharucha, still half-asleep, failed to understand Vaibhav's point: "I still didn't get what he was trying to say."
This got the teenager agitated, and he said: "Arey sir, ball nahi dikh raha idhar (I can't see the ball while playing)."
It left Bharucha smiling, and he replied, "Vaibhav, sabke liye same hi light hai (Everyone is playing under the same lights)."
Bharucha still doesn’t know whether his calming words helped the child prodigy , but if the scorecards are to be believed - they have made their mark and how! Vaibhav has set the Australian shores on fire.
After playing brisk cameos in the youth ODIs, he smoked a century in youth Tests. The boy, who made his first-class debut at 12, bagged his million-dollar IPL deal at 13, and then made history as the youngest player to hit a century in men’s T20s off just 35 balls.
Earlier this year, he hit the fastest century on record in youth ODIs against England at Worcester. He already has a big fan following. When he traveled to the UK, he was stopped for selfies at the airport, and fans reached the venue to get his autographs.
Yes, it is only a youth international, but he is the youngest player in either squads by two-and-a-half years. He has looked at least a level or two above the rest.
Amid all the glitz and glamour, Vikram Rathour, former India batting coach, who is currently with Rajasthan Royals, firmly believes that Suryavanshi is destined for big things.
"He's got a hundred in England, he's got a hundred in Australia. And you see what he can do in T20 cricket (IPL). Outstanding for a kid so young," Rathour told TimesofIndia.com.
"He is a prodigy. But the great thing about him is that he's not flustered at all. It's not that he scored his hundred and suddenly becomes a big name in Indian cricket at a young age. Nothing has changed. He's still so grounded and comfortable with all this suddenly happening around him. That's a great thing to have," he said.
Bharucha echoes Rathour's voice and goes a step further, requesting the selectors to "blood" him immediately.
"He should be blooded into the senior team immediately, like Sachin was all those years ago," said Bharucha.
"They have to blood this guy immediately, boss, because he is in another zone only. At least send him on an India A tour. Send him to India A immediately. I'm telling you, this Australian attack that is here, bowling to India A guys, he would have got a double hundred," he said.
Bharucha narrated a story from the IPL, when the teenager faced Jofra Archer in the nets.
"He smoked Jofra Archer in the nets. Jofra Archer, when he bowls in the nets, he's a demon. He never bowls a warm-up ball when the batter is there. He absolutely charges in. And actually, Jofra Archer knocked off Steve Smith's head in a practice session we had before the Ashes. Smith was struggling against him. From that day onwards, he never went inside the net when Jofra was bowling.
"When he was bowling to Vaibhav, I was scared, and this boy hit one shot on the back foot, and it went out of the stadium. All the coaching staff, even Jofra, were stunned," he said.
Bharucha and Rathour agree there are areas in his game that still need improvement. His love for mutton and rice is something that scares Bharucha, but with a bat in hand and his six-hitting prowess, he excites the former Mumbai batter, who feels the boy from Samastipur, Bihar, is a world-class talent—far beyond his years.
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