If we are not already there, we are fast approaching the point where Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s age should cease to be a talking point, once and for all.
How? How do you not talk about the extraordinary deeds of a man-child who celebrated his 15th birthday just ten days back? Let’s talk about the extraordinary deeds, sure. But let’s stop invoking 15 because what might be well-intentioned could end up having the exact opposite effect.
Why? Why must we disassociate (tender) age from (staggering) performance? Because in the last year, Sooryavanshi has shown that age is just a number (yes, we can use it for 15-year-olds too, not just for the 38 and 37-year-olds that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are respectively) and that he is no flash in the pan, that there is more to him than novelty factor.
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At this time of the year, most 15-year-olds are wondering how and where to spend the next two months, the annual summer holidays. Math tuitions? Swimming lessons? The mandatory summer cricket camp, aiming to be the next, erm, Sooryavanshi? Our lad has his path clearly charted – take on and destroy the best bowlers in the world, do so with chutzpah and nonchalance, somehow find the wherewithal to remain unaffected by the massive hype and retain his childlike innocence even if it’s only a matter of time before the outside world strips him of that endearing trait.
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When he was picked up at the mega auction ahead of IPL 2025 by Rajasthan Royals for ₹1.1 crore (talk about bargain buys), there was curiosity and no little bafflement beyond the immediate closed cricketing circles that had already seen him go to work in India Under-19 colours. This much for a 13-year-old (which he was at the time of the auction) seemed excessive, a PR exercise more than an investment for the present and the future. Until Sooryavanshi took guard for the first time, and lashed his first delivery in the IPL, from Shardul Thakur, for six.
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Not long thereafter, he became the youngest to make a 20-over century, the second quickest (in 35 balls) after Chris Gayle to an IPL hundred; by then, he had made his first-class debut for Bihar. Some ten months later, he smashed England for 175 in the final of the Under-19 World Cup this February in Harare, and lined up for his second IPL season. A crucial season because, as they say, if season one is the honeymoon period, season two is the real deal, when there are no secrets any longer and when one has graduated from a wunderkind to a marked man.
That franchises have spent hours poring over videos, trying to identify chinks in his armour, is perhaps the greatest tribute to Sooryavanshi. They don’t see a 15-year-old; they have identified him as potentially the most dangerous link in the Rajasthan Royals batting, a link they must dismantle, and quickly, if they are not to bleed copiously.
Have they succeeded? You tell us. His three knocks this season read 52 (17 balls), 31 (18) and 39 (14). That’s 122 runs in 49 deliveries which have yielded 10 fours and 11 sixes for a strike rate of 248.98. And those three hits have come against some of the very best in the business, among them Matt Henry, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult. And… And Jasprit Bumrah.
After his decimation of Chennai Super Kings in Rajasthan’s first match of the season, when he reached his fifty off a ridiculous 15 balls, and of Gujarat Titans in the next, attention turned to how he would fare against the best all-format pacer of his, possibly any, generation. In his debut season, he didn’t face Bumrah, falling for a two-ball duck to Deepak Chahar. Ahead of Tuesday’s rain-hit encounter in Guwahati, Sooryavanshi and Bumrah hadn’t crossed paths. How would this battle pan out?
Taking down Bumrah
Exhilaratingly, as it turned out. Bumrah’s first ball would have been spot-on to a right-hander, but to Sooryavanshi, it was a juicy leg-stump half-volley, inasmuch as Bumrah can serve out a juicy leg-stump half-volley. Not express, not threatening. Sooryavanshi, calm and focussed on the ball rather than the bowler, deposited it over wide long-on for a huge six. In the comm box, they went nuts; at the ACA Stadium, the crowd gasped, then roared and screamed and jumped in delight. Bumrah whirled around, breaking out into a wry smile. The protagonist was unruffled, as if to say, ‘Hey, what’s the big deal? I just hit a six, I do it so often.’
Not to Bumrah, Vaibhav, never to Bumrah.
‘Oh, really? Watch me’ was his counter, because two balls later, a short ball was summarily dismissed from his presence, over deep backward square and into the stands. A second six off three deliveries against the GOAT. No one was talking age anymore.
Having celebrated his 15th birthday on March 27, Sooryavanshi is now officially eligible to represent India. When was the last time we said this, and of whom?
India have a bouquet of T20 internationals lined up from the last week of June – two in Ireland, five in England, three more in Zimbabwe, and then plenty at home against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe before the home Test series against Australia next January. If Sooryavanshi wasn’t 15, he’d have been a major selectorial talking point simply because of the volume and the impact of his runs. He has shown himself to be both fearless and unafraid – not the same thing – and while he is respectful, it is of the ball and not of reputation. If you didn’t know his age and watched long shots of his batting, it’s hard not to be taken in by the sheer beautiful brutality of his ball-bashing. To misquote an old adage, focus on the batter, not his age.
Is it his fault that he is so good even when so young? Should that be held against him? Bring him on already, Ajit Agarkar. Carpe diem, Gautam Gambhir. Cotton wool isn’t the place for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, not any longer.