Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara has shared an experience in relation to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi that’s likely to give fans goosebumps. It happened last year just before the Indian Premier League when Sangakkara was the director of cricket at Rajasthan Royals and India legend Rahul Dravid was the head coach at the franchise. It was the first time Sangakkara saw Sooryavanshi bat. And what he saw in the nets was absolute carnage, with Sooryavanshi punishing England fast bowler Jofra Archer with utter disdain.
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“I first saw Vaibhav when I came in for a two-week period to Guwahati. And I went to the side, there was this tiny, horrible little side net in terms of facing up to the likes of Archer and Sandeep Sharma and all the fast bowlers with new balls, and no one really wanted to bat there. And I saw this, Vaibhav walking [and telling him], ‘I’ll bat.’ New balls on, and I could just hear the sound of his bat, like a gunshot every single time.
“And I think he just put Archer to the sword; he put Sandeep Sharma to the sword. So much so that at one time, I think Archer stopped and laughed. Because he was bowling quickly, and this 14-year-old kid was just treating him with absolute disdain,” Sangakkara, who is now the head coach of Rajasthan Royals, related the incident on Sky Sports Cricket during the India-Ireland T20I coverage from Belfast on Friday night.
Feedback to Rahul Dravid!
Sangakkara goes on to reveal what he told Dravid afterwards. That the teenage sensation was ready to play for the franchise. “And that’s when I saw him, and my feedback to Rahul, walking out, was, yeah, ready to play anytime you want him to play. Kid’s just incredible,” he said.
Sooryavanshi didn’t play the first game against Ireland as world champions India were thrashed by the home side at Stormont. Chasing 183 to win, the visitors got bowled out for 148 in the 19th over. The second and last game will be played at the same venue on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see if under pressure India would hand him his India debut. It is highly unlikely that they would, which means Sooryavanshi, who recently set a record for the fastest List A half-century off just 11 balls, might get his chance during the five T20Is in England next month.