Jos Buttler, former England captain, and Stuart Broad, ex-England pace, discussed how young Indian sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi keeps surprising them every time they think they’ve figured him out.
Broad revealed that he and his cricket friends have formed a WhatsApp group, where they discuss Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and light up every time the teenage sensation takes off.
Broad told Buttler on their ‘Love for Cricket’ podcast because each time they think they have a strategy or a technique to stop him, Sooryavanshi surprises them with something new.
Thanks to his amazing 93, the Rajasthan Royals chased down 220 runs against the Lucknow Super Giants. In the process, Sooryavanshi has amassed 579 runs at an incredible strike rate of 236.32 in 13 games, with an incredible 53 sixes to his name.
“I’ve got a little WhatsApp group that’s with mates who love their cricket, and every time he gets going, it’s like, ‘He’s off again—43 off 17.' And then it comes back, "I thought we’d worked him out—bouncer and Yorker theory," said Broad on the Love for Cricket podcast with Jos Buttler.
Buttler, who had even dubbed him AI in an earlier podcast, couldn’t stop discussing how Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is close to breaking Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in an IPL season. Sooryavanshi has hit 53 sixes, already holding the record for most sixes by an Indian in an IPL season, and is chasing Chris Gayle’s record of 59 sixes.
“And talking about sixes, our friend Vaibhav smashed a few sixes again last night. He’s now hit the most sixes for sure by an Indian player in an IPL. He’s over 50 (53) sixes, I think, in the season. And I think it’s only Gayle who’s just ahead of him with maybe one or two more sixes for the record for most sixes in a season.
I’ve watched him bat in the power play. The stats galore, right? Balls per boundary in the power play is two. So, every other ball in the power play, he hits a four or a six, which is just crazy. Chris Gayle—the best T20 player to ever play the game, I think, especially in terms of six-hitting—holds the record with 59. He’s one step ahead of everyone,” Buttler added.
