Mumbai: Most people in their early teens, still enjoying the good things in life, are yet to figure out their area of expertise. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 13, already knows that he can bat, and bat better than most people of his age.
At the celebrated Chepauk stadium on Tuesday morning, the talented left-hander from Bihar lofted Australian off spinner Thomas Brown over long-on to bring up the fastest hundred (58 balls) in U19 Tests for India. That he did it aged 13 years 188 days in the first of the two unofficial youth Tests, made it even more special. It was his fourth six in his innings of 104 scored at breakneck speed (62 balls) which also included fourteen boundaries.
The 58-ball ton placed him behind only England’s Moeen Ali, who had hit a 56-ball ton in 2005.
The story of the Bihar boy wonder continues to amaze. It was earlier in January that Vaibhav became the youngest debutant in Ranji trophy history aged 12. Vaibhav didn’t score many in that match against Mumbai but got a taste of Bihar cricket’s prickly problems – two teams turning up on match day. The youngster though, has swiftly navigated past these troubles with forty-nine age group hundreds.
If you thought Vaibhav was picked too early by his association, the junior national selectors were equally besotted by Vaibhav’s free-flowing bat swing. On the evidence of his runs in Vinoo Mankad U19s, Challenger trophy U19s, Quadrangular trophy for India, he was picked for NCA’s age-group high-performance camp and ultimately the youth Tests.
“If you noticed some of his shots against Australia, they had Yuvraj Singh’s elegance and Brian Lara’s flair,” said Manish Ojha, a level two BCCI coach, and someone who took Vaibhav under his wings as an eight-year-old.
Ojha once played domestic cricket with MS Dhoni. “There have been cricketers who scored heavily in age-group cricket and could not graduate to the next level. That will be Vaibhav’s next challenge. But I am quite confident about Vaibhav because he is hungry to constantly grow,” he said.
This hunger comes from the daily 3.30am alarms and his Samastipur-Patna rides, kitbag in tow – equivalent of Mumbai’s Virar-Churchgate local train rides – for cricket coaching. Vaibhav’s father Sanjeev would do odd jobs in Mumbai to fulfill his own cricket aspirations. Having failed, he’s living his dream all over again with Vaibhav in the driver’s seat.
“I spoke to him last night when he was 81 not out and he told me, the Australians stopped sledging him once he raced past 30 and they had seen his batting range,” said Sanjeev, who was present in person at Chepauk to applaud. “Almost all Indian and Australian players’ parents were watching the action, and I was the proudest father,” he added.
Vaibhav’s maximum to bring up his hundred ended up with one hand coming off the bat handle like Lara, his idol. Every time Australians tried to bounce him, Vaibhav had the answers with his back-foot game.
“He has no stage fear. That’s his biggest strength,” said Vikash Kumar, Bihar’s Ranji trophy coach from last season. Vikash known as ‘Ranu’ in cricket circles was Dhoni’s first Ranji trophy captain and the man who handed Vaibhav his first first-class cap.
“I asked him the day before his debut match against Mumbai, as to how he was planning to go. ‘Vahi game khelonga, jo aata hai, Sir (I will play the game I know, Sir)’, he told me.”
