Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been hailed as “amazing” and “fearless” after the 15-year-old underlined his rare talent with an audacious display against superstar Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL.
Rajasthan Royals opener Sooryavanshi faced the 32-year-old pacer Bumrah, of Mumbai Indians, for the first time Tuesday and immediately hit him over the wide long-on fence for a six.
Bumrah smiled as he walked back to his run-up, then, three balls later, the precocious teenage batsman did it again with a pull shot that went over deep backward square leg.
Sooryavanshi hammered 39 off 14 balls and put on 80 runs with opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hit an unbeaten 77, as Rajasthan won by 27 runs in a rain-shortened 11-overs-a-side contest in Guwahati.
Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya said it had been “fascinating” to see Sooryavanshi take on one of the world’s best bowlers.
“Amazing to see the way he bats, the kind of fearlessness he has, the kind of shots he has,” said Pandya.
Sooryavanshi took on another senior pace bowler in the New Zealander Trent Boult to pummel an attempted yorker into the crowd over backward square leg.
His knock was cut short by a stunning catch in the deep by Tilak Varma after attempting another big hit off Shardul Thakur.
Sooryavanshi was angry at himself, covering his face and letting out a scream, before trudging back to the pavilion.
Fellow left-hander Jaiswal watched the blitz from the other end, captivated.
“The way he has been playing, it’s tremendous,” said player of the match Jaiswal.
“He’s working so hard as well. So I also get motivated – OK, I also need to develop some different shots.
“And if he’s taking on someone, I’ll just keep giving him positive messages that you can go after him and whatever, just play freely.”
Jaiswal, 24, said he doesn’t need to play the big brother.
“He’s amazing and he understands the game very well. He’s quite capable to do it himself. He’s enjoying his game and he’s playing unbelievably well.”
Sooryavanshi made history in last year’s IPL in a dazzling debut season, highlighted by a 35-ball century, the second fastest in the history of the T20 tournament.
He started this edition with a blazing fifty to live up to big expectations and received praise from former cricketers, including spin legend Anil Kumble, who said the prodigy should be fast-tracked into the senior Indian national team.
Sooryavanshi has already made his mark at the youth international level, hammering 175 off just 80 balls as India beat England in the Under-19 World Cup final in February.
DW Russian 
