“Saw him maybe four months back when he came for the trials, all of us knew we had found something special,” says Vikram Rathour about Vaibhav Suryavanshi
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-20254:33
Bishop on Suryavanshi’s record: ‘That was mind-blowing’
The adjectives came thick and fast: “remarkable,” “mind-blowing,” “other-worldly,” “unprecedented,” “exceptional.” Yet nothing could have truly prepared the cricket world for what unfolded on Monday night in Jaipur during IPL 2025. A 14-year-old kid, facing seasoned professionals with years of top-level experience, delivered a performance so astonishing that even Ian Bishop – a man who has witnessed more cricket than most – admitted, “It’s hard to really speak logic to this.”The basic facts, in case you missed it: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, from Bihar, who turned 14 after this IPL started, took on a bowling attack of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Karim Janat and R Sai Kishore – 694 international caps between them – and smashed them for 101 runs in 38 balls. It was the second-fastest century in the IPL, and it was much else besides.It might have come as a surprise to many, but not to Vikram Rathour, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) batting coach, who has been watching the INR 1.1 crore auction buy up close for the past few months.Related
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“We have been watching it in [the] nets the last few months. So we knew what he was capable of and what kind of shots he can play,” Rathour said in the press conference after RR had beaten Gujarat Titans (GT) by eight wickets, chasing down 210 with 25 balls in hand. “But to do it in front of this kind of crowd and in a situation like this, against a really good bowling attack, was really special.”Saw him maybe four months back when he came for the trials. All of us knew we had found something special. It was up to us to nurture him and bring him to this level. Credit to him, he kept his nerve, he has a solid head on his shoulders, he has showed what he is capable of.”He certainly did, leaving Bishop and Varun Aaron searching for words on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show.”They are allowing young players to come in, most franchises, and be free, be fearless, ‘don’t worry about your failure’, and that’s a big shift in Indian cricket, with guys like Yashasvi Jaiswal and others,” Bishop said. “That’s a big shift in Indian cricket – let’s not look past that. A few generations ago, ‘play properly, you get two failures [and] you’re gone’. Now it’s a different culture.”
WATCH – Highlights of Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s record-breaking hundred on JioHotstar (India only)
It’s a culture that, in IPL 2025 alone, has thrown up future stars Priyansh Arya, Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre and now Suryavanshi.”I don’t care what GT served up [with the ball] on a platter, the kid is 14 years old! He demolished what was served to him tonight.” Bishop said. “You can take nothing away. Going forward, [we can ask] how do they come at him in the next game, how does he counter what’s going to be thrown at him, but for tonight, I don’t care whether [the bowlers] served him oranges…”I hope we don’t go too far with praising him, but you cannot step back from the fact that tonight was absolutely mind-blowing, other-wordly.”
How does a 14-year-old hit with such power?
On the night, Suryavanshi hit 11 sixes and seven fours. Most of his sixes went a long, long way. As we have spoken about elsewhere on ESPNcricinfo, there’s a unique bat-swing in his game that could be the source of his power.5:27
‘Otherworldly’ Suryavanshi wows Bishop, Aaron
“If you look at the way his backlift is, it starts here [near the back ear] and then it goes almost like a whip. So he gets a little extra whip into his shots, because it’s not like a conventional up-and-down kind of backlift,” Aaron said. “It will be really cool to see one of those trackers which we have which track the backlift; it’s a very different backlift and I think that’s what makes his unique and he gets so much power into the shot with that effort for somebody who is that young.”Visualise what Aaron said, or just revisit Suryavanshi’s batting last night, and the name that pops up is that of Yuvraj Singh. It did for Bishop for sure. “Pendulum swing. I remember when Yuvraj came to the scene, and with pendulum swing, and you can see the full range in motion. How do you… phew!”
‘This is new territory for Rahul Dravid’
Now comes the question about the future. There are enough cautionary tales in Indian cricket about early success and all that can go wrong thereafter. Being around Rahul Dravid and Rathour can only help, but that’s only for a few months every year.”He’s lucky to be part of Rajasthan Royals and under Rahul Dravid, because Rahul Dravid is one of those cricketers who almost symbolises how to keep it low-key,” Aaron said. “If he can pass those values to him, be like, ‘you know what, this is just the beginning, take it easy, put your head down…”5:13
What’s the best way to handle Suryavanshi?
But, as Bishop pointed out, Suryavanshi’s age makes things just that little bit tricky.”It’s unprecedented, 14 years old. This is new territory. This is new territory for Rahul. This is going to be new territory for the parents,” Bishop said. “The scrutiny on him when he plays the next game, and if he doesn’t score any runs, you know, there are going to be detractors out there.”Brian Lara was always one of the greatest guys I saw [when it comes to] dealing with failure. We played against each other since we were 14-15 years old – he was able to take failure, let it run off his back, and move on to something great. This kid if going to be tested. Rahul is great. He has a great track record. His parents are going to have to be so close to him, and hopefully – I am sure they are great parents – you’ve got to surround this kid with proper people for the next five years to ensure this high that he’s got so early in his career, there isn’t a drop.”This is going to take a special effort from his parents, the BCCI…”