Source: Reuters
Vaibhav Suryavanshi has scored 404 runs at a strike-rate of 237.64 in this year’s IPL.
Former England all-rounder Mike Yardy has had a front-row seat to the rise of cricket’s 15-year-old sensation, Vaibhav Suryavanshi. When Suryavanshi, then just 12, represented India in an under-19 series against England, Yardy was in the opposing dugout. He again coached the prodigious left-hander during last summer’s tour of England — where Suryavanshi smashed 143 in the fourth 50-over match in Worcester — and was present as the teenager hammered an incredible 175 from 80 balls against England in the Under-19 World Cup final in February.
So, has Yardy spotted a weakness? “Not really, no,” he tells BBC Sport, with a hint of a smile. That question now looms over the global cricketing world. A batter too young to leave school in many parts of the world, who once traveled three hours to the nearest major city for coaching at age eight, is now dominating elite bowlers. “The talent he has got, I don’t know what to predict because I have never seen anything quite like it,” Yardy adds.
Any doubts that Suryavanshi’s white-ball success over the past 12 months — culminating in that Under-19 World Cup final knock — was a fluke have been erased at this year’s Indian Premier League. The Rajasthan Royals opener followed his 35-ball century as a 14-year-old last season (making him the youngest centurion in men’s T20s) with a 36-ball ton against Pat Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad two weeks ago. Only West Indies legend Chris Gayle has reached two IPL centuries faster.
Like Gayle, Suryavanshi’s innings rely on brutal boundary-hitting, though his technique is distinct. With a high, unusual, and whippy bat swing, his hands move away from his body as the bowler releases. He generates power as the bat swishes back through the line to make contact. This prompted former England captain Michael Vaughan to wonder whether Suryavanshi could become the “greatest striker of a cricket ball of all time.”
“His bat swing is quite unique,” says former India international Deep Dasgupta, who has witnessed the teenager’s rise through IPL commentary. “It is not a taught bat swing. Batters go straight up and straight down — a linear path. This is more circular and wristy.”
Suryavanshi begins in a conventional left-hander’s stance.
After the ball is released, Suryavanshi’s hands and bat move laterally away from his body, allowing a circular bat swing.
He also has a high back lift, similar to his batting hero Brian Lara.
Despite the circular swing, his bat comes through straight rather than diagonally.
The motion, combined with a snap of the wrists, produces the hand speed behind Suryavanshi’s extreme six-hitting ability. He has hit 61 sixes in 17 IPL innings — only three fewer than former England captain Eoin Morgan managed in 75 tournament knocks. India great Jasprit Bumrah, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, and New Zealand’s Trent Boult have all been dispatched over the ropes this year. While his shot selection often lacks finesse — his most profitable stroke is classified by CricViz as a ‘slog’ — the striking remains remarkable.
