Image source: Reuters
Image caption: Vaibhav Suryavanshi has scored 404 runs at a strike rate of 237.64 in this year’s IPL
Few people have witnessed the rise of cricket’s 15-year-old sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi more closely than former England all-rounder Mike Yardy. Yardy was in the opposing dugout when Suryavanshi, then aged 12, played for India against England in an under-19 series. He was again the coach when the precocious left-hander toured England last summer—Suryavanshi scored 143 in the fourth 50-over match in Worcester—and again when the teenager hammered an incredible 175 from 80 balls against England in the Under-19 World Cup final in February.
So, has Yardy spotted a weakness? “Not really, no,” he tells BBC Sport. Yardy’s tongue is slightly in his cheek, but that question now confronts the entire cricketing world. A batter not old enough to leave school in many parts of the world, who used to travel three hours to the nearest major city for coaching at age eight, is currently dismantling the best bowlers around. “The talent he has got, I don’t know what to predict because I have never seen anything quite like it,” Yardy says.
Any suggestion that the 12 months of white-ball success leading to the Under-19 World Cup final knock were a fluke has been erased at this year’s Indian Premier League. Rajasthan Royals’ opener followed his 35-ball century as a 14-year-old in last year’s tournament—which made him the youngest centurion in men’s T20s—with a 36-ball century against Pat Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad two weeks ago. The speed of those two tons has only been beaten by West Indies’ T20 legend Chris Gayle in the IPL.
Like Gayle, Suryavanshi’s innings are built on brutal boundary hitting, though he gets there in a different way. With a high yet unusual and whippy bat swing, his hands move away from his body as the bowler releases. He generates power as the bat swishes back through the line to make contact. This led former England captain Michael Vaughan to wonder whether Suryavanshi could become the “greatest striker of a cricket ball of all time”.
“His bat swing is quite unique,” says former India international Deep Dasgupta, another who has had a front-row seat to the teenager’s rise through his commentary at the IPL. “It is not a taught bat swing. Batters go straight up and straight down—a linear path. This is more circular and wristy.”
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Image source: Star Sports
Image caption: Suryavanshi begins in a conventional left-hander’s stance
Image source: Star Sports
Image caption: After the ball is released, Suryavanshi’s hands and bat move laterally away from his body to allow a circular bat swing
Image source: Star Sports
Image caption: He also has a high back lift, similar to his batting hero Brian Lara
Image source: Star Sports
Image caption: Despite the circular swing, his bat comes through straight rather than diagonally
Image source: Star Sports
Image caption: The motion and a snap of the wrists produces hand speed resulting in Suryavanshi’s extreme six-hitting ability
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Slide 1 of 5: Vaibhav Suryavanshi taking strike in stance – Suryavanshi begins in a conventional left-hander’s stance
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The 61 sixes Suryavanshi has managed in 17 IPL innings are only three fewer than former England captain Eoin Morgan managed in 75 knocks in the tournament. India great Jasprit Bumrah, Australia metronome Josh Hazlewood, and New Zealand swinger Trent Boult have all been hit over the ropes in this year’s event. There is often little culture—his most profitable shot is categorised by CricViz as a “slog”—but the striking is remarkable for its regularity, its uncommon cleanness, and its length. “He gets a full flow and gets everything out of his bat swing but is then able to hold a really consistent base with his feet into the ground.”
