- The Indian cricket team is always blessed with some of the most exciting, magnificent, and awesome talents emerging from nowhere and going on to become the best in the business across the playing world. Some of the renowned cricketers, such as Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Harbhajan Singh, just to name a few among scores of elite cricketers, have not only brought laurels to the country but also furthered the cause of the game worldwide. In other words, there was never any dearth of talented cricketers emerging from the depths of India’s large swathe of landscape, riding on the popularity of the game, always heading northwards. The new wonder kid, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, is the latest find.
PC: The Indian Express
- As we know, Vaibhav set the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) on fire, showcasing his brilliance in such an impactful manner that the whole cricketing world is stunned and hence going gaga over his monumental exploits at barely 15-years of age. Don’t go by the age, as Vaibhav showed time and again that he is a special talent who knows how to strike the ball far and wide, even if the opposition bowler is a reputed cricketer with some pedigree against their name. True connoisseurs, experts, ex-players, and crazy fans were left amazed at the atrocious strokeplay unleashed by the boy while nonchalantly tonking some of the biggest bowlers in the business. The audacious scoring abilities, especially hitting sixes, must have left many speechless.
PC: The Financial Express
- Representing Rajasthan Royals (RR), he scored 72 sixes overall – the most sixes in a single IPL season, a record hitherto held by Chris Gayle for 14 years – while collecting 776 runs at ablistering strike rate of 237.30. Unsurprisingly, Vaibhav was named as the Most Valuable Player, won the Orange Cap for the most runs scored in a season, and was also awarded as the Emerging Player of the Season. No mean achievement for a 15-year-old who is making his presence felt at such a nascent stage of his career. There are a lot of talks going around with many distinguished ex-players observing that Vaibhav should be blooded into Team India’s T20 setup. While no questions can be asked about his amazing talent, is the boy wonder ready for the top-level competition?
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PC: Firstpost
- Mind you, the IPL is a highly competitive tournament with several top performers from across the cricket-playing world participating in the league. While the T20 format itself may be considered more inclined towards batters, the bowlers have perpetually reinvented themselves to checkmate the batters from completely marauding. This being the case, Vaibhav has proved beyond doubt his capabilities to play at the highest level in the T20 format. The Indian selectors should be looking at the possibility of inducting the teenage prodigy into the national team sooner rather than later.Of course, he has played in the familiar Indian conditions, but facing quality attack on foreign pitches should be challenging. Vaibhav should overcome it, though. Over to the selectors!
