The spectre of a double whammy – an Indian left-handed prodigy who is also a Brian Lara fan – began to haunt, who else but Australia, at Chepauk on Tuesday.
When Vaibhav Suryawanshi launched Thomas Brown over mid-wicket for a gigantic six with audacity and non-chalance in India Under-19’s Youth Test against Australia, he offered first glimpses of what he is capable of. At 13 years and 188 days, the wonderboy from Samastipur in Bihar, became the youngest ever to score an international century at any level.
Vaibhav made 104 off 62 in his unique authoritative style that defied his age. His century that came off 58 deliveries is the fastest ever by an Indian and second overall in U 19s behind Moeen Ali’s 56 that came in 2005.
He said he was just getting started. “Honestly, I never feel threatened. Be it fast bowlers or spinners, I love to hit them. My mindset is like that. But at the same time, I also understand that I have to look at the pitch and play according to the situation. Even here I was only trying to do that,” he said, racing to his century after being 81 overnight.
From the moment Vaibhav walked in on Monday evening, this match has been all about the wonderkid who has already turned out for Bihar Ranji team last season. India had snatched a small first-innings lead, making 296, responding to Aussie score of 293. The visitors were 110/4 in their second essay.
Born to a cricket tragic father, Sanjeev Suryawanshi, whose aspirations to make it big in the sport when living in Mumbai never took off, Vaibhav is now living the life that his father couldn’t. Be it when working as a bouncer in a night club or at a Sulabh toilet or the port in Mumbai, watching young kids play cricket in maidaans, Sanjeev had only one dream – that one of his kids would become a cricketer.
And it is Vaibhav, the younger of his two, who has taken it upon himself to fulfill the dream. Sanjeev, who now works in a local newspaper in Samastipur, has laid a cement pitch for his son to practice regularly. And since he gets tired of giving throwdowns, Sanjeev now hires any teenager or youth who play cricket in the neighbouring villages, to bowl to Vaibhav.
“I built a net so that he could train,” Sanjeev tells The Indian Express. “We have lots of bowlers coming through from the neighbouring villages, bowling at him to ensure that he is trained at the highest level. We even call people over and give them food and water to ensure they don’t get tired of bowling at this boy because he doesn’t know when to stop batting and people get very tired,” the father says.
And in little under two sessions, the youth team from Australia endured all the pain and agony that several teenage boys and adults in early 20’s in the villages around Samastipur have gotten used to.
“I didn’t go there looking to play aggressively,” Vaibhav said of his knock. “Since we came to bat towards the end of Day 1, I knew they would attack with the new ball, and since they had attacking field positions, there were runs for the taking. My plan is always simple – if the ball is there to be hit, hit it. Don’t be in double mind,” he says.
But according to Sanjeev, something else had triggered Vaibhav. “Before the match I told him to build an innings patiently. But when he came in to bat, some of the Australian fielders seemed to have sledged and he started going after them from the first over itself,” Sanjeev says.
And until Vaibhav’s innings was cut short by a run-out, Australia’s attack searched for answers. Displaying maturity well beyond his years, Vaibhav had shots all around the park. His coach Manish Ojha attributes them to the time they spent in individual training sessions as he was certain the boy was destined for great things. “One of the things we knew we had to do was make him play all shots possible so he doesn’t get found out when he graduates to higher levels of cricket. The thing with him is that once he is shown something, he picks up on it very quickly and executes them with ease in matches,” Ojha tells The Indian Express.
When he wasn’t training, the southpaw Vaibhav would sit and watch Brian Lara’s videos for hours on end as he liked his natural flair. “Frankly, the boy is gifted. He is at least 3-4 years ahead of anyone his age, and that’s why it came as no surprise when he was selected for the U-19 tour,” Ojha says.
With a power-packed game, not even the pace of Australia’s seamers bothered him as he non-chalantly upper cut and pulled 18-year-old pacers Aidan Patrick O’Connor and Hayden Schiller with disdain. Watching him face boys and men several years older to him, Sanjeev has even feared that his son could end up getting hurt. “He would always insist on taking on the best bowlers in the neighbourhood and he always enjoyed the faster the ball came to him. He was never scared and he would always go on the offensive when he knew the bowlers were trying to intimidate him,” he said.
In age-group cricket, Vaibhav has been amongst consistent performers. In an inter-district tournament, he scored 620, which put him in the Under-19 state side. And in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, he scored 393 runs in five innings which made him part of the India Under-19 team and Bihar Ranji side last season.
Though he played white-ball matches for India Under-19, he wasn’t part of the World Cup side as he had age on his side. But with the next World Cup scheduled for 2026, it is safe to say Vaibhav will form the nucleus of this team.
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