Vaibhav Sooryavanshi stay in the middle for East Zone in the quarterfinals of the Duleep Trophy lasted all of six deliveries against North East Zone.
When North East Zone won the toss and elected to bat first, it appeared a bold call as East Zone with its strong batting line-up had the potential to bat out the opposition.
After Abhimanyu Easwaran faced the first over, striking a boundary, all eyes were on Sooryavanshi at the other end. The 15-year-old started with a couple of dot deliveries before finding back-to-back boundaries. The first one, was a clip through the mid-wicket and the next one was a punishing cut that raced to the boundary. And after playing out another dot ball, he went for another slash of the seamer Bishworjit Konthoujam only to be caught sharply by the fielder at gully for 8.
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For Sooryavanshi this was a missed opportunity to assert himself and make a strong start to the red-ball season. Ahead of the Duleep Trophy, Sooryavanshi’s coach Manish Ojha had told The Indian Express that the teenager’s biggest adjustment would be on the mental aspect. And more specifically need to pick. “The biggest adjustment he has to make will be on the mental side. In white-ball cricket, he is hitting every ball. You can’t have a similar approach against the new ball. You have to wait for the right deliveries and minimise the risk. He has to learn to ride the wave, bat in different gears and learn the art of constructing an innings. Show the world, you can play 300 deliveries. This is the exposure he needs to gain from red ball cricket before we think of his next step,” Ojha said.
As has been the case so far, Sooryavanshi’s intent was not questionable. He went searching for boundaries and paid the price on a pitch where the North East Zone seamers managed to extract some movement both ways.
The East Zone captained by Ishan Kishan has fielded a strong XI which includes ace seamer Mohammed Shami.