Teenage batting sensation , 14, who grabbed headlines for his white-ball performances for Rajasthan Royals in the last IPL and followed it up with a fine showing for India U-19 team in Australia recently, is equally serious about red-ball cricket.
He proved this by reaching the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna to join Bihar’s Ranji Trophy team for a practice session on Monday afternoon barely one hour after landing in the city from Australia. Bihar Ranji team head coach Vinayak Samant was pleasantly surprised to see his young vice-captain turn up for the session. “I did not expect Vaibhav to come for Monday’s practice session. I expected him to take rest, but despite landing in Patna at 1pm, he joined our practice session at 2pm. That’s some amazing and admirable commitment,” former Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter Samant told mid-day over the phone from Patna on Monday.
During the recent U-19 tour Down Under, Suryavanshi was India’s second highest run-getter with 133 runs in two Youth Tests, and third highest run-getter, scoring 124 runs, in three Youth ODIs.
Vinayak Samant
Samant, 52, who was Mumbai’s head coach in 2018-19 and 2019-20, also praised Suryavanshi’s temperament while training. “He [Suryavanshi] batted for quite a long time. Though he’s an attacking batter, when I was giving him throwdowns, considering he’ll be playing in the longer format, he was effectively leaving the balls whenever necessary. During the session, I asked him if he would open the innings and he immediately agreed. I really like that attitude and confidence. He’s a fearless cricketer and I want him to bat keep batting in the same manner, like Virender Sehwag,” added Samant.
Bihar begin their Ranji campaign against Arunachal Pradesh in Patna from October 15, and Suryavanshi has been named as the deputy to Bihar skipper Sakibul Gani.
When asked if the additional responsibility of being named vice-captain will add to the pressure on the teenager, Samant replied in the negative: “I don’t think so. He is just 14, but he’s a mature cricketer and we have seen his abilities in the IPL as well as for India U-19. The Bihar Ranji selectors want to groom him to be a future leader. He’s a quick learner, so I think he’s ready for that additional responsibility.”
Though Bihar are playing in the Plate Group, Samant, who has played 101 First-Class matches, reckoned it won’t be easy. “It’s a challenge because we’ve hardly practised together. We were supposed to have a camp in September, but it rained. I reached Patna on Saturday and along with the selectors, observed a practice session of 54 Ranji probables on Sunday. Apart from that, we don’t have even one professional player in our team nor do we have a video analyst. All the other Plate Group teams have professional players. But I’m ready for this challenge and I’m expecting good results,” Samant signed off.