Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
One of the enduring images for those who watched Sachin Tendulkar bat in Australia in 1991-92 could well be the expression on the big-moustached face of Merve Hughes. The big fast bowler had been straight-driven gloriously for a boundary by the curly-haired, baby-faced teenager at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Hughes was surprised. Or shocked, rather. Maybe bewildered, even.
More than three decades later, the world’s most fearsome bowlers are sporting similar looks. They are being tormented by another baby-faced teenager. Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi: he spares none.
This one’s hair is not curly. And he bats left-handed. And he prefers to deal in sixes mostly (he belongs to the Twenty20 generation, after all).
His journey has only begun, but make no mistake, Sooryavanshi is blessed with genius. The latest proof came on Tuesday night in Jaipur, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
T20 cricket may not usually produce long-time memories, but some of the shots Sooryvanashi played — over extra-cover against the two quick Yadavs, Mayank and Prince, and the ramp off the latter — will be remembered.
A six over the wicketkeeper’s head isn’t cricket’s prettiest of shots, but when he played that, with such timing, such inventiveness, you didn’t mind. You admired.
Sooryvanshi’s 38-ball 93 came in a must-win match for Rajasthan Royals against Lucknow Super Giants (to retain hopes of IPL playoffs). He had begun sedately – 11 off 12 balls.
He played second fiddle to stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had given the team the quick start that was required in pursuit of a challenging total. He curbed his aggression for a while: what his needed wasn’t a cameo, but a match-winning knock.
Then, he exploded. The unrelated Yadavs and the other bowlers soon began to resemble Hughes.
The orange cap could not have found a more deserving batter.
Published – May 21, 2026 04:30 am IST
