Shreevats Goswami opened the innings for India in the 2008 U-19 World Cup that Virat Kohli’s batch won in Kuala Lumpur. He ended the inaugural IPL season with the Emerging Player Award, but henceforth it wasn’t a fast road to success for the Bengal wicketkeeper being an understudy to Wriddhiman Saha. In a recent Instagram post, the retired left-hander was seen batting recreationally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park against junior bowlers. One of the comments said his style resembles that of Brian Lara, to which he replied that it is an insult to the legend. He may have shrugged off that compliment out of part modesty and part logic, but it would be right up the alley of another member of the Indian colts: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Take, for instance, the rapier-like bat swing to send the length ball from James Minto beyond the deep mid-wicket fence in the PowerPlay or the consecutive sixes off left-arm orthodox Ralphie Albert with three fielders deep on the leg side. While his flamboyance is arresting enough to draw parallels with the king from the Caribbean, Vaibhav also has the deftness to round up the equivalence. It was easy pickings for the opener when Sebastian Morgan drifted on the pads and an England misstep of having an extra fielder inside the ring was capitalized on with a guide towards short third man. Touch, brute power, class, game awareness – the prodigy from the Samastipur district of Bihar has it all in the wheelhouse, that too at the tender age of 14.
Much to the chagrin of captain Thomas Rew, Vaibhav brought all those qualities to the fore to produce an innings that was unlike anything ever witnessed at the formative level of the game. Granted, the pitch in Harare was prepared with the objective of a high-scoring final, but even the curators wouldn’t have expected the surface to have as many runs in it as he plundered. 175 to be precise in just 80 balls, with 15 boundaries and – hold your breath – exactly the same number of maximums. Six of them came in Farhan Ahmed’s first spell as Vaibhav raised a 55-ball hundred when it mattered the most, his maiden century of the tournament, and slowed down a fraction only in the interest of the milestone before picking up the hammer and tongs again with such avarice that India’s projected score, at an optimal, read 629 at the halfway mark.
At this stage, England were carrying scrambled minds, evident through the blemishes. Ayush Mhatre was reprieved twice during the 142-run partnership with Vaibhav, first in the form of a stumping chance and later a catch drop at cover, and the groundwork also veered away from the standards livewires like Joseph Moores had set in the competition thus far. He couldn’t collect a pull on the bounce whereas a double got converted into a boundary at deep point. Finally a miscue went to hand thanks to the return of pace in the middle overs, and the degree of devastation that the left-right combo caused can be ascertained from the fact that India managed only 161/7 in the second half after torpedoing 250/2 in the former. As the ball flew to every nook and crevice of the
Salisbury Sports Club, the England support staff had to leave the comforts of the dressing room and run around the boundary line offering words of advice to their beleaguered disciples.
Vaibhav, on the other hand, sought no counsel. He was on a rampage from the moment he channelized his inner Virender Sehwag to flay an overpitched tempter with zilch foot movement. So clean was his range-hitting that England, devoid of ideas, had to resort to yorkers to apply the brakes. However, these are up-and-coming talents rather than experienced campaigners who know how to deliver under pressure, so when Morgan missed the mark Vaibhav was able to get the desired elevation to go downtown, an area of the ground he absolutely peppered to bring the Chevrons in the crowd to their feet. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he alone outbatted England from the contest, even though the defence wasn’t a cakewalk for India with Caleb Falconer’s 115 keeping the fascination alive after Rew’s dismissal triggered a mini-collapse.
“I think it’s always going to be tough when a player like Vaibhav gets going. We were left scratching our heads a little bit. We did our research. We were just going to sit guys on the ring and hit the top of stumps for as long as possible, use our change-ups, and that’s what’s worked for us previously against India as well, but today Vaibhav came off so yeah, fair play to him,’’ Rew tipped his hat.
Adjudged the player of the match as well as the series for his pyrotechnics, Vaibhav dedicated his award to the people behind the scenes. ‘’Feeling really good. All the preparation, the effort from the support staff, all the games we played – the Asia Cup and the series leading up to this – everything has brought us to this moment,’’ he said. ‘’The main goal was not to take too much pressure. We focused on believing in ourselves and trusting the process we’ve been following. I’m very confident in the skill set I’ve developed. I know I can perform in big games.’’ No lies detected, given he became the youngest T20 centurion with an ebullient 101 off 38 balls for Rajasthan Royals versus Gujarat Titans. He also kickstarted his IPL journey with a six off Shardul Thakur, trumpeting his arrival in the big leagues.
India maintain the ascendancy in the U19 World Cup with a record-extending sixth title, a testament to both the size and development of their pool as a prominent cricketing nation. Will Vaibhav Soorywanshi go on to scale great heights like Brian Lara? Rahul Dravid, the respected mentor of the next generation, once remarked that this juncture should be the springboard to a successful career rather than its finest hour.
