Legendary Sunil Gavaskar cautioned the media and cricket experts to not praise 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi to the skies. The young lad took the cricket world by storm when he smashed 101 runs off just 38 balls against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur.
After scoring his hundred off just 35 balls, he became the youngest to score a century in the IPL history and also scored the fastest hundred in the IPL by an Indian batter and the second fastest overall after Chris Gayle. The southpaw smashed eight fours and 11 sixes in his blistering knock to stun one and all as he scored 93% of his runs in boundaries.
However, the youngster was dismissed for a two-ball duck against Mumbai Indians on Thursday.
Gavaskar also lauded Vaibhav for scoring a hundred against Australia in a youth Test. The youngster had scored 104 runs off just 62 balls.
“I mean, look — when he entered the auction, he had already scored a hundred against Australia in a youth Test, and that was against a pretty good attack. For a 13-year-old to score a hundred against an international team, albeit not their top side, still shows the lad had talent. And he has just gone on and on from there. I do believe that he is someone we shouldn’t praise to the skies.”
The former Indian captain expects Suryavanshi to rise through the ranks under Rahul Dravid’s tutelage.
“I think he’s going to develop his game even more. Sitting with Rahul Dravid, he will learn how to temper his innings — he is only going to get better and better.”
The former Indian opener feels the young lad should take a bit of time and he should not look to smash the first ball for a six in every match like his IPL debut against LSG when he hit Shardul Thakur for a first-ball maximum.
“In this case, we just get the feeling, even in his very first game, with the first ball he faced, he hit it for six. Now, that should not become something he feels he must live up to every time. Experienced bowlers will think, ‘Ah, he wants to hit the first ball for six?’ They will bowl it short, and then he might get out. Then, he could start to worry and overthink things,” said Gavaskar.
Rajasthan Royals will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
