The prodigy has an enduring allure, more so if he is yet to sprout whiskers, and his voice has a pre-adolescent twang. This is a trait often linked to subcontinental cricket, especially in India and Pakistan.

An Imran Khan would stroll the streets in Pakistan and pick lads hurling a tape-ball at tremendous pace. And in India, there are these two forever projects linked to finding the next Kapil Dev and the next Sachin Tendulkar.

Subject of curiosity

In all these quests, the subject of curiosity is a young boy, yet to feel the splash of an aftershave on his chin. “Chotte”, or little one, might sound like body-shaming in these politically correct times, but it is also a term of endearment from the senior professional to the pre-pubescent youngster breaking into the big world of cricket.

Be it India or Pakistan, the search for the next big “chotte”, a striking oxymoron, is always on. Seen in this context, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14 years old, and on the cusp of turning 15, has ticked all the boxes.

Age entirely on his side, a cherubic face, stunning talent, and hell, he has already played First Class cricket for Bihar, Indian Premier League (IPL) fixtures for Rajasthan Royals, and is a vital cog within the India Under-19 outfit. The numbers he has stacked up are staggering.

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At a mere 14, he hammered 101 off 38 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur during last year’s IPL. For those with a recency bias, there is the 175 he plundered against England in the Under-19 World Cup final at Harare on February 6.

He has done all this while still not being eligible for a driving licence or a voter ID, and obviously he will be barred at bars! At an age when boys are dealing with acne, exam-fever and the perplexity of adolescence, Suryavanshi is making headlines — and, unsurprisingly, the ‘next Sachin’ references have popped up.

The southpaw’s talent is for all to see and, already, whispers about blooding him into the senior Indian squad have begun. Still it is better to wait a bit for the boy to become a man, maybe sport a wisp of a moustache, gain some years and some certainty in his emotional arc.

The lines above may sound like the statutory warning in share market ventures, but some caution is essential while selectors allow him to organically flourish. It must be remembered that for even Tendulkar, there was a counter in Vinod Kambli. The latter made that oft-quoted comment about his buddy taking the elevator while he took the stairs, but when he did catch up with the former, he dazzled, albeit, all too briefly.

Tendulkar turned up first for India at 16 in a Test, and Kambli did that at 19 in an ODI. Briefly, the schoolmates found their tracks running parallel, and then the dynamic southpaw, who once toyed with the great Shane Warne at Sharjah, ran out of steam.

Form waned, a chink against short-pitched bowling undid his forays at the batting crease, and, more importantly, Kambli the person unravelled. His international career was over when he was just 28, ideally the prime stage in a batter’s life. Refusing to read the tea leaves, Kambli often moistened his throat with a potent liquid and soaked his soul within the stifling embrace of self-pity.

Flattering to deceive

A talent withered while Tendulkar watched aghast and, in his own way, tried to help. Readers of a certain vintage may still remember the effervescence that Kambli lent to a soft drink advertisement, which featured his other India mates too. Still, he remains a case of promising much and then flattering to deceive.

It need not be all gloom and doom, and yes, Suryavanshi needs to be celebrated in the immediacy of his runs and the hope he offers. To swing on the side of positivity, there is the Virat Kohli story. Again a star at the Under-19 level, Kohli’s transition to the India shade and to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru colours was not easy.

Speaking to him at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, it was obvious that he was self-aware for someone still under 20. Yet during a candid interaction with select media personnel at a fancy hotel in the same city, he once opened up about how he presumed it would all come easy to him, indulged himself a bit, and then understood cricket at the international and even club level is tougher than his Under-19 skirmishes.

This was a man who held a mirror to himself and turned his career around. Suryavanshi has ideal role models in Tendulkar and Kohli. So too in other earlier Under-19 stars like Yuvraj Singh. But it is a minuscule club, as the graduation from teens to adulthood is never easy for most in real life. It is even tougher for young athletes torn between academics and sport, blinding limelight and honest sweat.

Throw in fame and excess money in the bank, and heads can sway, and the 5 a.m. alarm call can be ignored. The morning run is discarded, visits to the gym turn sporadic, and shots are played from a rusting muscle-memory. Just like Kambli, there are whispers about Prithvi Shaw now. Most would remember Unmukt Chand, Under-19 star primed to turn out for India. He also featured in a soft drink commercial with established stars. He even wrote a book, ‘The Sky is the Limit’. But he didn’t fly high.

Just as India celebrates its teenage prodigies, it also quickly tires of them once they fall by the wayside. Presciently, Tendulkar told the trophy-winning India Under-19 captain Ayush Mhatre: “Don’t lose focus and get distracted.” The legend was gently nudging the lad to chase his dreams of eventually playing for the India senior team.

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From the Under-19 level, cricketers still have to turn up for their local clubs, play for their State age-groups and try and break into the Ranji squad. At times patience wears thin and it is presumed that there is a magic bridge between Under-19 and the India colours, with the IPL lending a hand.

The cricketing fraternity will quickly pounce on attitude shifts, notes will be exchanged, and suddenly, the rising star becomes a wilting flower. Soon, it becomes a rage against the dying flame, and as more competitive talent emerges, the return to top-flight cricket becomes tough.

Support system essential

A support system is essential, at times the NCA, now the BCCI CoE, does that through its coaches and counselling sessions. A young and temperamental Harbhajan Singh almost contemplated shifting to Canada and driving trucks but he had a supportive captain in Sourav Ganguly, and he flourished.

Still, it all boils down to the youngster having the drive to persist and prosper. Suryavanshi has a long road ahead, and it is up to him to pave it with ballast and stride with confidence.

Two of India’s most talented players, neither of whom lived up to his full potential, are again in the news. Opportunities lost and promises unfulfilled make up some of sport’s — in fact, life’s — saddest stories. Of the two, Vinod Kambli is 52 and Prithvi Shaw 25. A return to international cricket and redemption is not ruled out for the younger man, even if his Mumbai captain thinks that one can’t babysit him anymore.

In a moving gesture from a former great, Greg Chappell wrote to Shaw the following lines of encouragement: “I remember watching you play for India’s Under-19 team, where you showcased an extraordinary talent and a spark that made it clear you were among the most exciting young cricketers of your time. Those of us who recognize your potential are still keenly watching your journey, knowing that the best is yet to come.”

Do we give up too easily on a player? What of those like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, derided at one time for their apparently wayward ways when fame and fortune first came their way, but now the darlings of the establishment and captains of India? What if someone hadn’t made the effort to advice them, stick with them?

Competition is stiff in Indian cricket; every slot has a few performers of near-equal strength. Even those with god-given gifts (his captain’s description of Shaw’s talent) have to work hard, keep fit and avoid temptations.

Cricket captains, some fighting for their own places, cannot always be expected to play the role of psychologist or encourager-in-chief. Those making the difficult transition from outstanding schoolboys or early successes to maturity often need professional help. They are vulnerable, easily tempted away from the straight and narrow. They are quickly labelled ‘difficult’ by adults who forget what it was like when they themselves were in their teens. A little understanding goes a long way.

Many of our finest schoolboy cricketers who went on to carve successful international careers, from Yuvraj Singh to Rohit Sharma have had to work it out for themselves. In a 2010 interview, Yuvraj told ESPNCricinfo: “I see a lot of youngsters like Kohli and Rohit who are very talented and flamboyant. I tell them not to make the same mistakes I made….but they don’t listen. I don’t blame them because a lot of times Sachin or Sourav or Kumble said something to me and I said ‘What do they know?’ ”.

Watching Kohli and Sharma today, all dignity and poise, and fine examples of the gentlemanly cricketer, it might me difficult to believe that they were once the brash boys of the game, and close to throwing it all away. This is not to suggest that India, or any team, should produce cookie-cutter players each a clone of the next, but to emphasise the importance of the right advice at the right time to fully realise a player’s potential.

Mumbai dropping Shaw for “fitness and disciplinary issues” suggests a distancing from a player who went unsold at the IPL auction recently. This was someone who once made over 500 runs in an innings in a schools match and had a century on Test debut at 19.

Kambli’s case is a failure as much of the individual as of the system. Good enough to score back-to-back double centuries in Tests, he had two other centuries besides, in his first seven Tests. A batter who once hit Shane Warne for 22 runs in an over, he was finished at 23. The World Cup-winning Indian team of 1983 has promised help — if he first goes into rehab, where he has been 14 times.

Too much too early without the emotional strength to handle it, says the rest of the world and moves on. Indian cricket does not have a system of mentoring young players — such things happened unplanned when there were players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble in the team. The seniors lead by example, if the team is fortunate.

Success can be a double-edged sword, as many promising players have discovered. It gives and it takes away with equal power. We mourn the unfulfilled, but they deserve more, like professional help when they are most vulnerable.

Delhi Capitals batsman Jake Fraser Mcgurk plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Mumbai Indians in New Delhi on April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

IPL 2024

The trend of gargantuan totals — in Indian Premier League in general and at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in particular — continued. So did that of Delhi Capitals winning at home.

Riding on Jake Fraser-McGurk’s pyrotechnics up front and Tristan Stubbs’ strong finish, DC posted 257 for four against Mumbai Indians. Despite the MI power-hitters clearing boundaries frequently, the Capitals pace troika of Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, and Rasikh Salam Dar picked wickets at regular intervals to control the game.

As a result, despite the visiting team finishing just 10 runs behind the total, the game never slipped out of DC’s grasp.

With Prithvi Shaw failing a fitness test just before the toss, Fraser-McGurk found a new opening partner in Abishek Porel.

The Australian pounced on the MI bowling to amass 89 off the five overs, 78 of which came off his willow. While he cleared the fence at will, his boundary-hitting ability was on full display.

That 80 off his 84 runs came off boundaries underlined his dominance. The best of his 17 boundary hits was his swing over long-on off a slower one to welcome Jasprit Bumrah into the attack.

With Bumrah being unable to strike up front, a toothless MI attack struggled to pull DC back in the middle overs. Stubbs then took on Luke Wood and Nuwan Thushara — the two IPL rookies — to help the Capitals cross the 250-run mark.

The fancied MI top-order had no option to up the ante from ball one. Once DC dismissed the top three in the PowerPlay, MI was always playing catch-up. Khaleel struck twice to get the big fish Rohit Sharma (top-edged to mid-off) and Suryakumar Yadav (jabbed to covers) while Mukesh’s change of pace forced an error out of Ishan Kishan.

Captain Hardik, Tilak Varma and Tim David then played robust innings but they had too much to catch up after the initial damage. Rasikh’s variation in pace also worked wonderfully for the Capitals to close the game out.

Scoreboard

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk c Mohammad Nabi b Chawla 84 Abishek Porel c Ishan Kishan b Mohammad Nabi 36 Shai Hope c Tilak Varma b Wood 41 Rishabh Pant c Sharma b Bumrah 29 Tristan Stubbs not out 48 Axar Patel not out 11 Extras: (LB-1, NB-1, W-6) 8

Total: (For 4 wickets in 20 overs) 257

Fall of wickets: 1-114, 2-127, 3-180, 4-235

Mumbai Indians bowling: Luke Wood 4-0-68-1, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-35-1, Nuwan Thushara 4-0-56-0, Piyush Chawla 4-0-36-1, Hardik Pandya 2-0-41-0, Mohammad Nabi 2-0-20-1.

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan c Patel b Mukesh Kumar 20 Rohit Sharma c Hope b Ahmed 8 Suryakumar Yadav c Williams b Ahmed 26 Tilak Varma run out (sub Sumit Kumar/Pant) 63 Hardik Pandya c Mukesh Kumar b Rasikh Salam 46 Nehal Wadhera c Pant b Rasikh Salam 4 Tim David lbw b Mukesh Kumar 37 Mohammad Nabi c Hope b Rasikh Salam 7 Piyush Chawla c Hope b Mukesh Kumar 10 Luke Wood not out 9 Extras: (B-2, LB-2, NB-1, W-12) 17

Total: (For 9 wickets in 20 overs) 247

Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-45, 3-65, 4-136, 5-140, 6-210, 7-223, 8-234, 9-247

Delhi Capitals bowling: Lizaad Williams 3-0-34-0, Khaleel Ahmed 4-0-45-2, Mukesh Kumar 4-0-59-3, Kuldeep Yadav 3-0-47-0, Axar Patel 2-0-24-0, Rasikh Salam 4-0-34-3.