With his 26-ball knock of 78 runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi completed 200 runs in this edition of the IPL. The 15-year-old, who became the IPL’s youngest centurion last year with his knock of 101 runs against Gujarat Titans, has so far smashed 18 sixes and 18 boundaries in this IPL. On Friday, he hit eight boundaries and seven sixes during his stay at the crease.
Sooryavanshi hit Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood for one six and three boundaries off the four balls he faced from the pacer and also amassed 24 runs off nine balls from the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Earlier in the league, Sooryavanshi had hit Mumbai Indians and Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah for two sixes during his knock of 39 runs against the side in the Royals’ 27-run win over Mumbai.
Sooryavanshi shared how he tries to play the ball and not the bowler, even though it is on the back of his mind which bowler is bowling.
“Back of the mind, it is there (on who is bowling). I try to play the ball and not the bowler, and play my game. My dad, my coaches, my guardian Romi sir here, they keep telling me that the journey is long, and to focus on my process and my game, without diverting my mind to different things,” Sooryavanshi said after the Royals’ six-wicket win on Friday.
Friday’s knock was Sooryavanshi’s second fifty of the tournament this season. The U19 World Cup winner had scored a total of 252 runs in seven matches, including his maiden IPL hundred in last year’s IPL. The Bihar native played a knock of 175 runs against England in the U19 World Cup final earlier this year to set up India’s title win.
In this year’s IPL, Sooryavanshi has scored his runs at a strike rate of 266.67 and an average of 41.09. The 15-year-old also spoke about how he gets disappointed when he gets out and wants to play a little longer.
“If I am at the wicket, 10-20 extra runs can be scored or a target can be chased (1-2 overs earlier). That is what I get upset about, that I could have played a little longer,” added Sooryavanshi.
During the match against Mumbai Indians, Sooryavanshi had smashed Bumrah for two sixes in one over during his 14-ball knock of 39 runs. The 15-year-old drew praise from former Indian captain Anil Kumble for his tactics against a bowler like Bumrah.
“(Vaibhav) Sooryavanshi makes it look easy against one of the world’s best bowlers. First ball, he hits him for a six and then sets him up. He set the bowler up, not the other way around. We’ve generally seen Bumrah set up batters so many times, but here, Sooryavanshi set Bumrah up to bowl that slower ball on the third delivery, and he was waiting for it to hit him for another six. It was brilliant batting by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – just the way he strikes the ball and the consistency he has shown in terms of strike rate. He is striking at close to 300 in every game and scoring more than 30 runs consistently, which is outstanding,” Kumble said on JioHotstar.
