The legendary English trio thinks Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is totally out of the ordinary, and he could have been part of India’s T20 World Cup squad. In a matter of months, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has caught the imagination of fans and cricket experts alike. England cricketer Jos Buttler recently said the 14-year-old Indian ‘has to be’ the greatest batsman he has ever seen, for the impossible batting talent that he brings to the table. Understandably so, Buttler was behind the wicket when Sooryavanshi last year smashed a 35-ball hundred for the Rajasthan Royals against his team Gujarat Titans, in the Indian Premier League last year. All thanks to his knock, the Titans ended up on the losing side despite scoring a big total.
Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook, and spinner Phil Tufnell too have now showed their admiration for Sooryavanshi. Late last year, Sooryavanshi, in Bihar colours against Arunachal Pradesh, became the youngest to score a List-A hundred in men’s cricket (190 runs in just 84 balls), and his legend has understandably grown immeasurably there on. And then earlier this month in the Under-19 World Cup final, Sooryavanshi scored 175 off just 80 balls to totally push England out of the contest. Honestly, who can blame the English trio for being awe-struck like Buttler.
“I saw Jos Buttler say that he [Sooryavanshi] has got to be the greatest player he has even seen. He is just 14 and has got a List A hundred to his name, “Vaughan said, completely awestruck before Cook threw in: “And he is the youngest cricketer ever to score a List A hundred,” and continued, “I didn’t see his T20 hundred but I saw his other hundred and I was thinking he was just going to back away and hack it. Very strong. He has got this unbelievable bat speed. I saw this English guy bowl to him back of a length on the fourth stump [referring to the under-19 World Cup match] and it was not a bad ball. He hit it just like that over point.”
Tufnell then playfully said Sooryavanshi could have been in India’s side for the ongoing T20 World Cup. “Get him in there”, he said and got an instant “yes” from Cook. Cook, a recipient of the prestigious Knighthood in 2019, let out his surprise that even the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn’t in the squad.
Upon which Vaughan said chuckling: “Shubman Gill also didn’t get in that squad. Shubman is partying, dancing at Arjun Tendulkar’s [pre-wedding celebrations]. Jaiswal can’t even get in, so, Indians could have lobbed this guy [Sooryavanshi] right into the T20 World Cup and he would not have disappointed for sure.”
