15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is already batting with a clarity and poise that defies his age, according to Royal Challengers Bengaluru seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The Rajasthan Royals defeated the reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets and two overs to spare, extending their winning streak to four games this season. Sooryavanshi scorched his way to an incredible 78 off just 26 balls, and Dhruv Jurel anchored the chase with an undefeated 81.
“The way he is hitting shots. He is not slogging, he is hitting proper shots. For a 15-year-old, he is too mature. So yes, I think we should give him credit for the way he is batting, and he is batting really well. So he deserves all the credit,” PTI quoted Bhuvneshwar Kumar as saying at the post-match press conference on Friday.
Bhuvneshwar insisted that RCB never felt totally outplayed in spite of Sooryavanshi’s assault, which featured eight fours and seven sixes.
“It’s a T20 game, I mean. Yes, he is young, and he is batting very well. He is batting maturely, but we never felt that somebody was thrashing us. If a 15-year-old can bat like this, even if he is 25 or 15, 1 think it’s part of the T20 game.
“Yes, we had plans, we dropped a catch too, but that happens in cricket. So we couldn’t execute what we wanted to do, and I think it is a part of T20, so we are not worried that much,” said Bhuvneshwar.
“We tried what we could do. I know that from the outside, the game looks a little slow compared to how it looks inside. Vaibhav played good shots. So I think we felt that we couldn’t do anything different.”
RCB replaced leg-spinner Suyash Sharma with all-rounder Venkatesh Lyer in order to improve their batting in an attempt to reach a competitive total. This decision ultimately limited their bowling flexibility.
“It is difficult to use spinners in powerplay, and we had only one left-arm spinner, as we used an Impact instead of Suyash. So we didn’t have an off-spinner, and for a left-arm bowler to face a left-arm batter, it makes sense. We did what we could do, and he batted really well.”
RCB are scheduled to face five-time champions Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Sunday.
