1 week Ago
During an U19 match while representing India B, Vaibhav Suryavanshi began crying in the dressing room after being run out before being consoled by VVS Laxman. During a Men’s U-19 Men’s One Day Challenger Trophy match in 2023, Vaibhav Suryavanshi was run out after hitting 34 off 49 while representing India B. He went back to the dressing room and broke down into tears at having lost the chance to convert the start into a big score.
Vaibhav was 12 years old back then. He wasn’t as famous as he’s today but had already started grabbing attention thanks to his appetite for scoring runs in tournaments where he was facing much older opponents. Batting legend VVS Laxman consoled an emotional Vaibhav, pointing out he’s not just looking at runs but the identifying players who have the skillset for a long run.
“In one of the games, Vaibhav was run out for 36 (34). So, he started crying in the dressing room. When Laxman saw this, he came to him and said, ‘We don’t only see the runs here.
We see people who have the skill for the long run.’ Laxman saw his potential very quickly. The BCCI has backed him too," Vaibhav’s coach Manoj Ojha told Sportstar .
Later, Laxman would recommend Vaibhav’s name to Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid and the franchise went on to sign the teenager at the IPL mega auction last year for Rs 1.1 crore. While it was anybody’s guess whether the kid will actually end up featuring in the IPL, a tournament that sees the participation of world-class T20 cricketers.
As luck would have it, an injury to RR captain Sanju Samson opened up a vacancy at the top of the batting order and RR gave 14-year-old Vaibhav a chance to open against Lucknow Super Giants. The response? A fearless Vaibhav smashed India allrounder Shardul Thakur for a six off the very first ball of his IPL career. He would score an impressive 34 before being dismissed.
In his second match, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he clattered two sixes off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to prove that it wasn’t just the beginner’s luck that he benefitted from on debut. And as if to rubber stamp his authority, the teenager went on to create history in his third innings by scoring a century against former IPL champions Gujarat Titans. He became the youngest ever to not only score a hundred in IPL but in T20 cricket itself.
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