NEW DELHI: Vinayak Samant is among the many whose jaw dropped when he saw the teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi bat for the first time. The former Bihar Ranji coach couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.“Vaibhav is extraordinary,” Vinayak Samant tells TimesofIndia.com.
“What I love about him is his bindaas (carefree) attitude. This boy is just not scared. What caught my eye was him not playing cross-batted shots at all. It was refreshing to see,” he recalls.Vaibhav’s “bindaas” attitude is reflected in his six-hitting. Recently, Sanju Samson, at the Naman Awards, spoke about the teenager’s approach while interacting with former Rajasthan Royals coach Rahul Dravid.“I meant I was there in the meeting. So, Rahul Sir invited him to the room. Sir said, ‘Sanju, we need to talk to him. He’s a very young kid, we have to tell him how to go about it’,” Samson said at the Naman Awards in New Delhi.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (PTI Photo)
“So, Rahul Sir asked him, ‘Vaibhav, what’s the plan?’ Vaibhav said, ‘Kuch nahi Sir, hum to khelenge (There’s nothing special, Sir. I’ll just play).’ Dravid asked, ‘What’s your game plan?’“Vaibhav said, ‘Agar hume pehle mila to hum pehla hi uda denge (If I get the first ball in my zone, I’ll take the aerial route).’ That’s exactly what he did. He’s playing a video game of his own,” Samson added.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi burst onto the IPL scene last season, smashing 24 sixes in just 122 balls. In seven matches, he racked up 252 runs at a crazy strike rate of 206.55. Since then, he has been on a roll for India U-19, hammering centuries in England and Australia, including clutch knocks in the U-19 World Cup semi-final and final.
The strategy against him will be to bowl yorkers on middle and leg, bouncers on the off stump and slower ones away from him
Vinayak Samant | Former Bihar coach
The big names have already tagged him a “prodigy”, but second-season blues have hit many young stars before. The real question now is, can Vaibhav keep the fire going?“Opponents will work on his weaker zones. It won’t be easy for him, but knowing him, he won’t flinch,” chuckles Samant.“The strategy against him will be to bowl yorkers on middle and leg, bouncers on the off stump and slower ones away from him. Don’t bowl in his arc, or it will go out of the park. His hand-eye coordination is so gifted, and I have never seen anyone pick the length so early,” he adds.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Photo by @BCCI on X)
Last year, Vaibhav smashed a 35-ball hundred, the second-fastest after Chris Gayle in the IPL. Now, he has set his sights on breaking the Jamaican’s record of 175, the highest in the league.The fearless approach has brought Vaibhav a lot of fame, but Samant feels it will take him a few years to mature.“He is a kid now. Right now, he should just enjoy his cricket. He knows how to win matches for the team, but in a year or two, he will become more mature. The more first-class cricket he plays, the better cricketer he will become,” he adds.
He is never scared to play any shot. The margin of error, if you are bowling to him, is very small. And he bats in the powerplay
Vinayak Smant on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
But Samant says T20 is Vaibhav’s territory and believes the youngster can break all records.“He is never scared to play any shot. The margin of error, if you are bowling to him, is very small. And he bats in the powerplay. He can hit sixes at will,” he says.
Poll
How do you feel about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s fearless batting style?
“He has his own way of showing temperament, which I find very unique. His ability to play as per the merit of the ball is second to none. He is a power-hitter, but he can also play along the ground very well. He cuts, pulls, drives, sweeps and slog-sweeps. He has got all the shots in his arsenal,” he adds.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is young, unfazed and looks set to torment bowlers for years. At 15, he is already a role model for many. But from Monday evening, he will enter his second IPL season. This time, he won’t be a newcomer. Will the youngster step up and silence the naysayers? Only time will tell, but those in the know at Rajasthan Royals believe he has the licence to dominate. Opponent bowlers and coaches may need to fasten their seatbelts, because the Sooryavanshi wave is here to stay.
