Former World Cup winning player for India Krishnamachari Srikkanth lauded the prodigal Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, comparing him to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, saying that he can be the next demi-god of Indian cricket. Sooryavanshi has been on top form in the ongoing Indian Premier League, scoring 246 runs in 6 matches he has played for the Rajasthan Royals. “The boy is simply outstanding and brilliant and in my opinion, dear selectors, Ajit (Agarkar) I’m telling you today fast track him, next series he should be playing. In fact I’ve been saying this since last year, he should have been fast tracked and been in the the T20 World Cup team. In the 15. He might not be in the 11 but 15. First let him be in the 15 and get the feel of what is international cricket. I think Sooryavanshi as is where is today, he should be fast tracked. No question of giving him time, let him be consistent, no chance. That guy can win you matches just like this. Imagine, first ball of Bumrah, sixer, Josh Hazlewood, he hammers him. He hammers anybody and everybody. He’s not bothered,” Srikkanth said in a podcast on The Week YouTube channel. “When I went in a tour as captain in 1989, that time there was a prodigy at the age of 16– a young boy called Sachin Tendulkar. No today, he’s the god of cricket. Similarly this boy can be the next demi-god of cricket. I think this boy has got tremendous talent,” he added. Also Read | Is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi changing Bihar? His mama, despite clearing UPSC, feels second-best in the family Sooryavanshi, who turned 15 last month, returned for his second IPL season with high expectations after scoring an explosive 80-ball 175 in India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph in February. The youngster is also likely to be picked for this June’s India T20I tour to Ireland and could become the youngest player to represent the country. The Indian Express understands that the selectors might give the 15-year-old the big break in the short series just before a white-ball tour of England. The left-hander, who has taken some of the best bowlers in the world to the cleaners in the last edition and continues in the same vein this year as well, has already hit a 26-ball 78 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, a 17-ball 52 against Chennai Super Kings and a 14-ball 39 against Mumbai Indians so far this season. He doesn’t seem overawed by reputation and has taken on the likes of Jasprit Bumrah – whom he hit for a six on the first ball he faced – and Josh Hazlewood with aplomb.
‘This boy can be the next demi-god of cricket’: Kris Srikkanth’s high praise for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
