Coach, I will hit 13 sixes today…’The legend was stunned by Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s confidence, made the deadly yorker and bouncer a ‘toy’

New Delhi. There has never been a dearth of talent in Indian cricket. But when Kumar Sangakkara, one of the world’s greatest players, and Dinesh Karthik, one of India’s most experienced wicket-keeper batsmen, start singing praises of a player, then it should be understood that the matter is something very special. This is the story of Rajasthan Royals’ young sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who has not only created a stir on the IPL stage with his aggressive batting, but has also forced the veterans to bite the bullet with his amazing self-confidence.

Rajasthan Royals head coach and former Sri Lankan veteran captain Kumar Sangakkara has praised Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a lot. Sangakkara believes that Vaibhav is not one of those players who gets distracted by the glamor of IPL, immense wealth and overnight fame. Sangakkara said in clear words that this aggressive teenage batsman has amazing potential to become a big name not only in India but in the entire world cricket.

‘Don’t worry coach, we are winning this match’
Kumar Sangakkara, while talking to Sky Sports, shared an interesting anecdote from an exciting IPL match. This was the match where Lucknow Super Giants had to defend a huge score of 220 runs to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. The pressure was on Rajasthan Royals, but there was not even a wrinkle on the face of 15 year old Vaibhav. Sangakkara said, just before coming on the field to chase the target, Vaibhav looked at me and said very casually, ‘Coach, don’t worry, we are winning this match. Hearing such words from a 15 year old child in such a big match was no less than magic.

The matter did not end here. Sangakkara further told that Vaibhav then went to the dressing room and boldly told the team’s foreign players Donovan Ferreira and Luan-Dre Pretorius, ‘I will hit 13 sixes on the field today, after that whatever little work is left, you guys finish it.’ Initially Ferreira and Pretorius thought that this child was just joking. But as soon as Vaibhav came on the field and started thrashing the bowlers and he reached the figure of 5 sixes, the senior players sitting in the dressing room became serious and started counting his sixes. Vaibhav batted brilliantly in that match and hit 10 skyscraper sixes. Sangakkara said that at the age of just 15, such unwavering confidence and ability to absorb pressure is truly incredible.

Away from fame and glamour, down to earth nature
It is often seen that when a player gets fame on a big platform like IPL at such a young age, he becomes a victim of pressure or disorientation. But according to Sangakkara, this is not at all the case with Vaibhav. He said, ‘In the coming times, Vaibhav will get countless opportunities at the cricket and commercial level. Maintaining a balance between all this and the support he gets from his family and team will be very important. But one thing is completely clear that he loves batting very much. Fame and glamor have no effect on him. He is very curious by nature and always remains connected to the ground.

Sangakkara also underlined that Vaibhav’s life is not limited to the 22-yard strip of cricket only. He has many interests outside the sports field, which keep him mentally balanced. Sangakkara is confident that he is mentally strong enough to handle this popularity easily and will leave a deep impact on franchise cricket as well as international cricket in the times to come.

Dinesh Karthik admitted – the toughest batsman of this IPL
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s fear can be clearly gauged from the statement of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik. Karthik admitted that even the world’s top and most experienced fast bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood looked helpless in front of this 15-year-old batsman. Referring to the match played in Guwahati, Karthik said, ‘We had made many strategies to stop Vaibhav. We thought that we would control this young batsman with accurate yorkers and sharp bouncers, but none of our plans worked on the Guwahati pitch. He is a very tough and fearless batsman.