Suryavanshi is a prodigy from Bihar who scored a triple century in the Randhir Verma Under-19 ODI tournament played in Bihar recently.
At the age of 12 or 13, when many children play cricket just for fun or do not know much about this game, at that very age Vaibhav Suryavanshi not only made his first-class debut but has also created a world record by scoring an explosive century against Australia in the Under-19 Youth Test for India recently. He is the youngest batsman in the world to score a century in youth cricket.
Suryavanshi said that ‘he was not under pressure at all during those innings but was playing his natural game‘
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Suryavanshi’s view on his debut for India U-19
He said, “I had made my debut for India in the Under-19 ODI last year, so there was no such pressure. I just had in mind how much difference there would be between white and red ball cricket and I adapted myself to it immediately. Australian bowlers were attacking me with short balls, so I also replied to them with aggressive cricket in their style.”
Suryavanshi was not a part of the Bihar team in the first match of the Ranji Trophy because he was with the Indian Under-19 team then and was playing the Youth Test against Australia Under-19 in Chennai. Bihar had to face an innings defeat against Haryana in the first match in just one and a half days.
But Suryavanshi has joined the team for the match against Bengal and will be available for selection. Suryavanshi said, “I had a conversation with BCA and they asked when I can join the team, to which I told them that it is not possible for me to join the match on October 11. I am with the team since Bihar’s second match, which will be played against Bengal in Kolkata.” Suryavanshi scored 104 runs in 62 balls in the Youth Test played in Chennai at the age of 13 years and 187 days.
In doing so, he surpassed the world record of Bangladesh’s current Test captain Nazmul Hussain Shanto. Nazmul scored a century in Youth ODI cricket at the age of 14 years and 241 days. While the next name on this list is Pakistan’s legendary batsman, Babar Azam, Babar scored a century in the Youth ODI at the age of 15 years and 48 days.
Not only this, Suryavanshi also performed a feat in a domestic Under-19 ODI competition of Bihar, when he played an unbeaten innings of 332 runs in a match of Randhir Verma Under-19 ODI tournament organized under Bihar Cricket Association (BCA).
Suryavanshi in an interview shared that his age is 13 years and 197 days. It seemed as if Suryavanshi knew that this question would definitely be asked of him, so he was fully prepared. Actually, when Suryavanshi was playing a first-class match for Bihar for the first time last year, there was a lot of discussion about his age.
Suryavanshi, who considers Lara as his idol, is very impressed by Wasim Jaffer
Left-handed opening batsman Suryavanshi himself also idolizes the legendary left-handed batsman Brian Lara. Although he has not met Lara yet, he said, “When I meet Lara, I will ask him about the technique of playing like him.” Regarding his goal, Vaibhav said that playing for India is also his ultimate goal but before that, he wants to focus on the basics and move forward slowly. Suryavanshi also said that if he faces any problem regarding batting technique or any other problem, he takes advice from former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer.
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“Last year, I met Wasim Jaffer sir for the first time in the four-nation Under-19 competition. He was the coach of the Bangladesh team then, he taught me a lot of batting tricks and then told me to talk to him whenever I needed anything. Since then, I keep talking to him about my batting after every match and he always helps me.”
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, cricketer, Bihar
Suryavanshi gives the credit of his cricket journey and reaching here at such a young age to his father. Vaibhav, who lives in Samastipur, about 100 km from Patna, is one of three brothers, one brother is older than him and the other brother is younger than him. Although both the brothers are not fond of cricket, cricket is in their blood, a gift from their father Sanjeev Suryavanshi.
Suryavanshi said, “Father used to play cricket but he could not reach this level. So he dreamed that his son should become a cricketer. When I became fond of cricket, he was my coach in the beginning, he used to teach me in Samastipur. Whenever there was a need, he would take me to Patna for cricket by car, he would leave his work and stay with me. But later, due to the lack of facilities in Samastipur, he sent me to Patna, where my game improved further under coaches Manas Jha Sir and Robin Singh Sir.”
Reports of playing from another state instead of Bihar were termed as false
Recently, there were also reports that Suryavanshi may play from some other state instead of Bihar, and he is planning to migrate. Suryavanshi said, “These are absolutely false and nonsense news.”
“I am neither thinking of playing from anywhere else other than Bihar nor have I ever said such a thing. Actually, I have taken permission from BCA to play in a cricket league in Chennai. This is the reason
“I am neither thinking of playing from anywhere else other than Bihar nor have I ever said such a thing. In fact, I have taken permission from BCA to play in a cricket league in Chennai. This does not mean that I want to play from any other state, I will continue to play from Bihar in future as well.”
Suryavanshi put an end to the speculations of playing from another state For this season of Ranji, Suryavanshi said that last time the pressure of the first-class match dominated him, due to which his performance was not as he wanted. He said, “This time I will play very freely because now I have also played the Youth Test, so the pressure will be less. When I take pressure, then it affects my game.”
Bihar’s second Ranji match is to be held against Bengal in Kolkata from October 18, for which Suryavanshi is included in the team and has reached Kolkata. Bihar has two consecutive matches away from home, after this Bihar has to host Karnataka (26-29 October) and Madhya Pradesh (6-9 November) in two consecutive matches.
After this, Bihar has to play against Punjab (13-16 November) in Chandigarh and against Uttar Pradesh (23-26 November) at home. Bihar’s last league match this season will be against Kerala (30 January – 2 February) away from home.
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