Vaibhav Sooryavanshi must have struck a million balls in the nets through his rise from child prodigy to teenage fame, yet he despises even a day off since “life feels slow” to him without practice.
The 15-year-old from Samastipur, Bihar, has received recognition for his outstanding work ethic, and his father Sanjiv deserves a great deal of respect for driving him to Patna for training five days a week.
“All this is because of my father. Since childhood, he has made me practice so much that if I do not practice even for a day, it feels like my life has slowed down a bit. So, I do not need to take a very long break; one day is enough,” PTI quoted Sooryavanshi telling JioStar.
He skipped his 10th standard board exams in order to concentrate on organized practice before to the IPL since he was so passionate about training.
“I felt I should practice because the IPL was approaching and I was also coming back after playing one-day cricket (U-19 World Cup). There was a change in format too, so I needed to work on certain aspects of my game,” the teenager said.
Recently, the renowned Sunil Gavaskar expressed his desire for Sooryavanshi’s childlike innocence to endure forever. When one discusses relaxation with him, his inner child takes control. His favorite kind of entertainment, according to him, is cartoons.
“When I used to stay at home two or three years ago and played matches or practiced there, whenever I had free time at home, I used to watch cartoons, and I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“Even now, whenever I feel like I need some relaxation or peace, I watch cartoons. I sit comfortably in my room and watch whichever cartoons I like. It feels really nice and reminds me a lot of home.”
With 680 runs and a record 65 sixes in this IPL season, Sooryavanshi is the biggest story in Indian cricket since Sachin Tendulkar arrived in 1988, a year before he made his Test debut.
Even though Sooryavanshi and Tendulkar have different batting techniques, they both exude wisdom beyond their years. Being a team player is something that his father, Sanjiv, instilled in him, and it is very important to him.
“Since childhood, my father has always told me that if you score a hundred, a double hundred, or even a triple hundred, but the team does not win because of it, then those runs hold no value. They may only for your personal record, but they do not benefit the team.
“So, if I score 80 instead of a hundred and my team wins, and if we still do not win despite me scoring a century, then that 80 means more to me than the hundred” he said.
“The longer my team stays in the tournament and the deeper we go into the playoffs and finals, the more chances I will get to score hundreds and achieve whatever records I want to break. So, it benefits both me personally and the team as well,” he reasoned.
