Jofra Archer may not have given a straight answer to the question every IPL bowler dreads\u2014who is the one batter they keep struggling against in the nets\u2014but there is a name that has shown up time and again. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has often been the man who seems to punish bowlers during practice sessions. After Rajasthan Royals thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad to knock the 2016 champions out of the tournament and book their place in a title shot, attention turned to the Royals\u2019 next big hurdle: a Qualifier 2 clash against Gujarat Titans on Friday evening. During the build-up, the broadcaster posed Archer a playful query\u2014where he targets Sooryavanshi in the nets\u2014and the England quick deadpanned, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you after the tournament is over,\u201d prompting a round of laughter.<\/p>\n
For all the bravado, Archer\u2019s \u201cmystery\u201d may not be all that reassuring. Even if he has managed 24 wickets this season, the early days of the Royals\u2019 social media updates suggested he, too, took a pounding at the hands of Sooryavanshi. After 16 matches, it appears that no bowler has quite cracked the code against the teenager\u2014except for one. As it turns out, the answer comes from within the Royals\u2019 coaching staff, and he isn\u2019t a member of the playing XI.<\/p>\n
During his time as a cricketer, Sooryavanshi\u2019s frequent nemesis used to be a batter himself, and he has now worked closely with players in a coaching capacity. He even spent time as India\u2019s batting coach during Rahul Dravid\u2019s period as head coach, and he is currently serving in the same batting-coaching role at the Rajasthan Royals.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right\u2014the man is Vikram Rathour.<\/p>\n
While Sooryavanshi was in full flow, driving the momentum as he raced toward the quickest hundred in IPL history, broadcasters cut into the dugout conversation to speak with Rathour amid the chaos. In the middle of the onslaught, Sunil Gavaskar asked Rathour whether there was anyone in the Royals setup who could get the young hitter out. Rathour\u2019s reply was light, but confident: \u201cIt\u2019s only me, I think. I throw it with my stick, and I actually get him out quite often. I\u2019m not telling you why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rathour also admitted he doesn\u2019t fully know what goes through Sooryavanshi\u2019s mind while he is batting. Still, he believes the teenager is simply having a great time and taking full advantage of a surface built for batting. After speaking with him recently, Rathour felt there was no elaborate blueprint behind the approach\u2014just a genuine enjoyment of the task, especially the joy of clearing the ropes, which is obvious in the way he plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, the way he is batting, as a coach, one of the key things that I\u2019ve learned is that sometimes it\u2019s better to say nothing. And when someone is batting like that, it\u2019s the perfect flow. So I\u2019m not telling him anything. Just enjoy your batting, look to bat well, and that\u2019s it,\u201d Rathour added.<\/p>\n
Rathour pointed to Sooryavanshi\u2019s willingness to keep refining his craft as a major advantage. \u201cHis biggest strength is to work on his game. He\u2019s almost a genius the way he is batting at the moment. But the way he thinks his cricket is well is a big strength. Whatever people are trying, he is responding to it. Takes everything well. He practices it. You can see that he has all the shots. So far, he has brilliantly responded to everything he\u2019s been through. Let\u2019s see how far he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jofra Archer may not have given a straight answer to the question every IPL bowler dreads\u2014who is the one batter they keep struggling against in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Vaibhav Sooryavanshi vs Jofra Archer: IPL Net Dominance","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Vaibhav Sooryavanshi\u2019s IPL net dominance is turning heads as he repeatedly troubles Jofra Archer\u2014what it means for Rajasthan Royals\u2019 next clash.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n