“See the ball and hit it hard”—that is the philosophy 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi swears by when he takes on any bowler, anywhere in the world. With Rajasthan Royals set to face Mumbai Indians in a highly anticipated encounter in Guwahati on Tuesday, the focus is once again on the teenager, particularly on how he plans to deal with elite fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Ahead of the match, Rajasthan’s coaching staff laid out a batting plan and the discussion turned into a light-hearted exchange on the spot. Sooryavanshi was watching the board while Vikram Rathour, the Rajasthan Royals batting coach, stood alongside him. Starting the conversation, Sooryavanshi said, “Koi to akele batting karega hi na, toh mai kar leta hun akele batting.” After Rathour gave his nod, the youngster added, “Aree 5 minute kam kar lunga sir.”
He then began teasing Siddhartha Lahiri, Rajasthan Royals’ performance coach, as Lahiri worked on the plan on the board. “Your game plan is correct,” Sooryavanshi told him, before Lahiri responded with a joke of his own: “Isko nikalo pehle mere paas se”.
Rajasthan Royals will be aiming to make it three wins in a row when they meet Mumbai Indians. Mumbai, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after suffering defeat against Delhi Capitals.
Sooryavanshi has carried the form he showed last season into the current campaign. In the two innings he has played so far this year, he has amassed 83 runs, averaging 41.50, with a strike rate of 237.14. His standout knock has been a 17-ball 52 against Chennai Super Kings.
His confidence is also backed by his U19 World Cup-winning run earlier this year. In that tournament, he scored 444 runs across seven innings, striking at 169.50 and maintaining an average of 62.71. His U19 output included one century and three half-centuries.
Squads
Rajasthan Royals Squad
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
- Dhruv Jurel (w)
- Riyan Parag (c)
- Shimron Hetmyer
- Donovan Ferreira
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Jofra Archer
- Nandre Burger
- Tushar Deshpande
- Sandeep Sharma
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Lhuan-dre Pretorius
- Brijesh Sharma
- Ravi Singh
- Shubham Dubey
- Adam Milne
- Dasun Shanaka
- Kuldeep Sen
- Sushant Mishra
- Yudhvir Singh Charak
- Kwena Maphaka
- Vignesh Puthur
- Aman Rao Perala
Mumbai Indians Squad
- Ryan Rickelton (w)
- Rohit Sharma
- Tilak Varma
- Suryakumar Yadav (c)
- Sherfane Rutherford
- Naman Dhir
- Mitchell Santner
- Corbin Bosch
- Shardul Thakur
- Deepak Chahar
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mayank Markande
- Trent Boult
- Robin Minz
- Raj Bawa
- Ashwani Kumar
- Hardik Pandya
- Quinton de Kock
- Will Jacks
- Mayank Rawat
- Raghu Sharma
- Atharva Ankolekar
- AM Ghazanfar
- Danish Malewar
- Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar
