Meet the 13-year-old Indian batter who is already smashing Australian bowling attacks – and knows how to return a sledge or two for good measure. Teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who lists West Indian legend Brian Lara as his batting hero, hit a 62-ball ton to help steer India’s under-19 side to victory over their Australian cricket counterparts in Chennai this week.
Opening the batting in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 293, Suryavansh destroyed Australia’s Next Gen bowling line-up. He clouted 14 fours and four sixes in scoring a brilliant 104 – at an astonishing strike rate of 167.74 – before being run out.
Suryavansh’s knock is the second-fastest century in an under-19 Test, only eclipsed by Englishman Moeen Ali’s 56-ball ton against Sri Lanka in 2005. Suryavansh is believed to be the youngest person to score a century at any international level.
Did the Aussies sledge Vaibhav Suryavanshi before innings?
And, despite his tender years, he already possesses an ability to get under Australian skins if provoked. His father Sanjeev told the Indian Express: “Before the match I told him to build an innings patiently. But when he came into bat, some of the Australian fielders seemed to have sledged and he started going after them from the first over itself.”
The youngster not only took his anger out on the bowlers but also took a subtle dig at the tourists, revealing he felt in complete control despite the large age difference. “Honestly, I never feel threatened,” Suryavansh said. “Be it fast bowlers or spinners, I love to hit them. My mindset is like that.
“My plan is always simple – if the ball is there to be hit, hit it. Don’t be in double mind. I knew they would attack with the new ball, and since they had attacking field positions, there were runs for the taking.”
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Suryavansh has an insatiable appetite for batting. The cricket prodigy’s father installed nets at the family home and would give bowlers from local villages food and water to bowl at his son all day. At night, Suryavansh would pore over videos of Lara batting before trying to emulate his hero the next day.
He made his first-class debut at 12 and has been scoring runs for fun for several years. In his local inter-district competition, he scored 800 runs in just eight matches and also racked up a triple century from 178 balls in an under-19 zone match. But it’s Suryavansh’s knock against the Australians that has made headlines around the cricketing world, with many proclaiming him the future of Indian cricket.
