Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 14 year old Bihar batting sensation has again rocked the world of cricket making a name to not only himself, but to his entire generation, a kind of exception. His history-making dismantling of an England U19 side on every criterion in his clearest recollection to date reflected through his rip-roaring century on reforming 78 balls during the recent Youth Test against Australia U19 is only one more instalment of a procession of his crusades, that is remaking the timeline of Indian cricket prodigies. Vaibhav Suryavanshi destroys records in all three forms at a time when most are only getting to grips with competition in the first traditional form, an arresting display of raw, ruthless power coupled with a technique that is immaturely sophisticated to its years. This unbroken growth is a thrilling sight to the fans, and a thorny thorn to the Indian cricket system as it develops.
The most classic version of the game is the basis of the instant demonstration of his genius. The theses of Youth Tests are generally a school of patience, temper and delicate art and we need many hours on the crease. Suryavanshi however has made them a site of expedited conquest. He is part of a select few who made the remarkable century through 78-ball century against Australia U19, during which he hit 9 fours and 8 huge sixes, officially classifying as the fourth fastest century in men U19 Test history. Moreover, this also renders him the only second controlteer to have hit two U19 Test centuries in fewer than 100 balls since leggendary Brendon McCullum, and he controls to have achieved this before turning seventeen years old. This tremendous batting rate that is characteristic of T20 cricket is actually a resounding declaration about the new aggressive spirit he represents. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is proving them right by showing that the new generation of Indian cricketers did not find red-ball cricket as a game of attrition and saw it as an occasion of quicker scoring, disruption of the usual running and, above all, disciplined bowlers line and length.
The most threatening quality of Suryavanshi, however, is his paralyzing versatility, which confirms that his adventures do not exist in one form. His mastery of red-ball is complemented with a career of limited overs that is similarly explosive. During the Youth ODIs with Australia, he established an all-time record for having the highest number of career sixes in Youth ODI cricket and beat the record held by Unmukt Chand. The old record holder Chand had to take 21 innings to reach his mark, directly in comparison to Suryavanshi, who appeared to do it in only ten, as the sheer power of the young left-hander. This spree is not only limited by the international youth circuit. His easy entry into professional T20 cricket was also disruptive as he was contracted by the Rajasthan Royalties in IPL. He would be the youngest in the leagues to make his debut, more so, the youngest centurion of the records with a jaw-opening 35-ball-hundred, the second-quickest IPL century ever, second only to Chris Gayle. This startling set of statistics – Ranji Trophy first appearance at the age of 12 and 284 days, to becoming the departureé of the Indian Youth Test century, to IPL record mother of pearl is all that Vaibhav Suryavanshi can do to strike a tailraker on any bowling at any place and anytime anywhere in the world.
Most importantly, this quick pace of this rise poses a significant challenge to the Indian cricket administration. The mere thought that these records would introduce is an overwhelming psychological and developmental challenge to a player who is just finding his way out of teenage years. It is no longer about trying to speed up his ascent, but cautiously handling his passage into adulthood and adult cricketing. History is full of warning stories of bright careers that were ruined by premature exposure, too much scrutiny by the mass media, and insufficient nurturing. The welfare and holistic growth of Vaibhav Suryavanshi, therefore, deserves to take the center stage in the Indian cricketing system with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) rather than the lure of an instant choice to senior team membership. This requires the development of particular training programs dedicated to high levels of injury prevention, strength conditioning appropriate at his age, and most importantly the strong psychological and educational backup to deal with the crushing demands on a billion or so maniacal fans. This can and should not be a quick process. The vision should be long Omniverse, so that his success is primarily sustainable throughout his life than longer than could come out as a fifteen years international career.
Lastly, outside the personal awards, Vaibhav Suryavanshi is an effective blue print of the modern Indian cricketer – ferocious, fearless and technically all rounder, whose pen sparkles in all forms. The way he came out of Bihar, which is not by any stretch a region that has been given serious treatment in the conventional cricket system, points to the fact that India has an extended talent search and selection base. He is an inspiring confirmation of the provincial struggle to discover and develop potential in every state and it is a further indicator of the change in direction since historic urban centres of cricket has been done away with. The success of Suryavanshi is therefore to the national selectors and administrators, a strong, loud and articulative counter-narrative to the administrative wrangles that occasionally engulf state level cricket. Once talent such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi sets the performance benchmarks so high up in the air, merit can simply not be disrespected. Such dominance in terms of age-group cricket, together with his IPL high-impact exploits is a clear signal to the system: develop the talent with slenderness, but guard it even better. The future shape of his career will wholly rely on the extent to which the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) takes precautions in the way it handles his growth within these next few years. The future of Indian batting would now appear to have come sooner; the challenge is now how the future succeeds.
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