Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has gained a “new fan” with his incredible pyrotechnics as Australia captain Pat Cummins has said he adores the 15-year-old’s batting style.
In a losing match against the Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, Sooryavanshi, the chubby-cheeked batting wonder of the Rajasthan Royals who has swept the cricket world, struck his second IPL century, 103 off 37 balls.
“Yeah, I think he’s my new favourite player. He hits the ball so hard, it’s great to watch. It’s good fun,” PTI quoted Cummins, the World Test Championship and T20 World Cup-winning Australia skipper, as saying after SRH’s five-wicket win over the Royals.
Sooryavanshi’s stellar start has impressed Cummins.
“You’ve got to be right on the money as a bowler, because if you’re not, it’s going a long way. So he’s impressive. Yeah, he’s had a great start to his career and yeah, I love the way he plays,” Cummins said.
Although there has been much discussion on the flat tracks available, where batters can simply smash fast bowlers and spinners across the line, Cummins believes that as long as these pitches are available in Twenty20 matches rather than Test matches, it is OK.
“Look, maybe. I think it’s just the way it is. The wickets might be flat, but it’s only 20 overs, you know, so it’s not a Test match where it’s flat and they’ve had a bat for five days, so I’m okay with that. It’s a maximum of four overs. Yeah, it’s fine. It is what it is.”
According to Cummins, these types of pitches evaluate bowlers’ abilities, and a competition of this nature requires five of the best operators.
“We set up our team, obviously, to try and go big on our batting, and as bowlers it’s up to us to try and minimise the runs. The scores look a little bit different to maybe a few years ago, but the concept’s still the same. Yeah, I don’t mind it. It’s fine. It’s the same for both teams. I think you still need five really good bowlers,” Cummins said.
