It’s not exactly right to scrutinise a player after every innings, but we now have some idea about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi! There is no reason to be overly worried, but it’s clear he is a major work in progress and will take some time before he becomes the finished article.
We have to be mindful that Sooryavanshi made his name largely in the Indian Premier League, where the conditions are totally different. Indian batsmen have historically struggled in England and on this tour, things have continued to be so. We also have to be mindful that not just the 15-year-old, but the other batters in the team are also struggling. With the exception of Abhishek Sharma and new captain Shreyas Iyer, other batters have been quite sub-standard, and those two have not been at their supreme best either.
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So, say, if this series was in India, rest assured, Sooryavanshi would have done a lot better. One could say it’s a bit of bad luck having to start your international career on tough tours. The other side of it is that a tough start will make him stronger mentally. It will hold a mirror up to him. He will know where he lacks and how he has to improve to sustain in international cricket. And that the IPL and international cricket aren’t the same.
The great Sachin Tendulkar, whose record Sooryavanshi broke earlier to become the youngest to represent India at 15 years and 99 days, had not done well in his first few ODI games either. In fact, he registered back-to-back ducks in his first two games against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Early realisation is better!
So, Sooryavanshi not doing well in his three innings so far is not so alarming. He is all of 15 years. But he has to understand there are shortcomings in his game. Even during the IPL, there were whispers that his game against short-pitched balls wasn’t great, and in the ongoing series, as well as the 50-overs tri-series in Sri Lanka last month, he showed there were some grounds for those doubts.
Twice in the ongoing series, he has fallen to fellow Rajasthan Royals player Jofra Archer off short-pitched deliveries. He has to understand that he is not batting in India and that he has to be circumspect. On most pitches in England, he is not going to score a 35 or 40-ball hundred. Patience is a big virtue in cricket too. In the second game at Chester-le-Street, which was also his debut, his stepping out against Will Jacks and getting out stumped was unnecessary. Similarly, if he is attacked with short-pitched balls, he has no obligation to hit them. He can very well duck under them or let them pass.
Sooryavanshi falling cheaply early in his first few matches (14, 13 and 15) might turn out to be a good thing for Team India in the long run. He will get back to the drawing board after this tour for sure. The hype surrounding him over the last few months will die down too. It has been a distracting thing. Frankly, Sanju Samson, whom he replaced, should not have been dropped. Just a few months ago, Samson won a T20 World Cup for India, quite single-handedly. But the team management, with the clamour for Sooryavanshi reaching fever pitch, succumbed to the outside pressure and was forced to play him. These failures, going forward, will quieten everyone, making the team focus better on the task at hand.