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History was made in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday when the Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed a sensational century against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri spoke glowingly of the young openers on display in the IPL this year and admitted he had been in awe of how Suryavanshi had commenced his cricketing career. "I think the first shot he ever played (against Lucknow), that would have taken everyone's breath away," Ravi Shastri said as quoted by the ICC. Shastri also acknowledged that failure is part of the learning process at a young age. He emphasised the importance of how Vaibhav handles setbacks as he faces new challenges. "But he's young, just let him play. I would say just let him play a bit because it's at that age, there's bound to be failure as well. It's how he handles failure, as people will come up with new things." Shastri believed bowlers will target Suryavanshi with some short-pitched deliveries in the future, and the real test will come with how he responds. "There'll be lots of short stuff thrown at him the next time he comes out to bat because when you tonk someone's first ball for six, then you show no mercy," he said. "Then you don't care whether he's 14 years old or 12 years old or 20 years old. The menu is the same that you dish out. So, he'll have to get used to that, and once we see him handling that, then you can make a proper judgement," he added. Vaibhav became the youngest player to score a T20 century with his innings of 101 in an eight-wicket victory for the Royals against Gujarat Titans, with the left-hander eclipsing the previous record held by Maharashtra's Vijay Zol, who had scored a hundred at the age of 18 years and 118 days. He smashed seven fours and 11 sixes during his 38-ball innings, with his century coming from just 35 deliveries and the second fastest in the history of the IPL, only behind Chris Gayle's 30-ball effort. (ANI)
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