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Former West Indies quick Ian Bishop was searching for words during his attempt to praise the "otherworldly" knock from Rajasthan Royals' 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Talent continues to sprout in the cash-rich league, and a new star was found during the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) pursuit of a 210-run target against the Gujarat Titans. Suryavanshi left the world of cricket gobsmacked with his swashbuckling 101(38) and etched his name in the history books. Priyansh Arya, Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, and now Suryavanshi have emerged as another prospect for India's future. "They are allowing young players to come in, most franchises, and be free, be fearless, 'don't worry about your failure', and that's a big shift in Indian cricket, with guys like Yashasvi Jaiswal and others. That's a big shift in Indian cricket - let's not look past that. A few generations ago, 'play properly, you get two failures [and] you're gone'. Now it's a different culture," Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out show. The Pink City revelled and marvelled at the fireworks produced by the bat of a 14-year-old southpaw at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in a high-octane run-fest against GT, which ended with an 8-wicket victory for the Royals. He blazed his way to the three-digit mark in a mere 35 deliveries, the fastest by an Indian in the cash-rich league's history and overall the second-quickest after 'Universal Boss' Chris Gayle's 30-ball ton against Pune Warriors in 2013. "I don't care what GT served up [with the ball] on a platter; the kid is 14 years old! He demolished what was served to him tonight. You can take nothing away. Going forward, [we can ask] how do they come at him in the next game, how does he counter what's going to be thrown at him, but for tonight, I don't care whether [the bowlers] served him oranges," Bishop said. The young southpaw single-handedly broke the backbone of GT's defence of 209/4 and lifted Rajasthan's spirits by paving the way for victory and ending their five-match losing streak in style. "I hope we don't go too far with praising him, but you cannot step back from the fact that tonight was absolutely mind-blowing, otherworldly," he added. (ANI)
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