Despite getting a typical, strong start young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi couldn’t get to his maiden half-century for India A. In India A’s second league match against Afghanistan A at Dambulla on Thursday, Sooryavanshi stared with a flurry of boundaries before falling for 44.
The ball that got the 15-year-old was the bouncer outside the off-stump. During the later stages of the IPL, in the Eliminator, Sunrisers Hyderabad pacers had tried that particular line and were rewarded after Sooryavanshi had taken the game away from them. Trying to pull the delivery from outside off, he ended up top-edging it to the fielder at third-man. “I tried to play the fielder instead of the ball,” the opener would self reflect soon.
Against Afghanistan, Abdollah Ahmadzai, despite being taken for runs, at least seemed to be working with a plan in mind against Sooryavanshi. While the young batsman hasn’t shown any one particular area of struggle, the plan from Ahmadzai was simple. Come around the wicket and cramp him for room. In an earlier over, he had induced an edge as well. And in the next, a well-directed bouncer on the fourth and fifth stump channel was enough for Sooryavanshi’s instincts to take over. He went for the shot, which is very much part of his textbook. But the line was too close to cut as he got a faint edge to the wicketkeeper. As soon as he was dismissed, Sooryavanshi like he does so often, rued the mistake immediately, gesturing he should have played the delivery better.
Though he couldn’t get to fifty, Afghanistan’s attack struggled to keep Sooryavanshi silent. Though they didn’t give away a single six, the left-hander showed he isn’t just one trick pony. Despite Afghanistan placing a packed off-side field and a sweeper cover to man the boundary, Sooryavanshi didn’t try to do anything extraordinary during his 22-ball stay. Instead, he would just wait for the delivery to come to him, and play it late. It meant, he was able to pierce the gap on the off-side effortlessly. One of the standout shots was the on the up cover-drive, where he stood on his toes and punched the delivery off his back-foot. It was the shot that made Sachin Tendulkar the toast of Australia during his maiden visit in 1991/92.
Having already shown in the IPL that he has gauge the pressure and play long innings, like he did in the Qualifier II against Gujarat Titans, Sooryavanshi showed his batting isn’t just about firepower alone. Though the firepower that he is known to show in the IPL was missing, he continued to score at a significant strike-rate of 200.
