Vaibhav Suryavanshi hogged the headlines with his mind-blowing 35-ball century in Rajasthan Royals' (RR) eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday (April 28).
The southpaw, at just 14 years and 32 days, became the youngest-ever batter to score a ton in the Indian Premier League. His 101-run knock off 38 balls, studded with seven boundaries and 11 sixes, paved the way for RR’s win in the chase of 210 with 25 deliveries to spare.
After witnessing Suryavanshi’s blitz, former West Indies cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop recalled a fascinating story about facing a 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar in a tour game.
"I was playing for Derbyshire, and we were playing against India at Chesterfield. Never forgot it. We batted first, and we must have made... don't know the exact numbers. Chesterfield bounces. You get in there, and it bounces. We were in the game, and this little...he was this high (gesturing with his hand), and he came into bat, faced a couple of balls, and I thought, okay, we've got this sewn up. The asking rate is a little challenging towards the end of the game, and this little kid cannot hit me anywhere. I ran up, and I made the mistake of bowling a little back of a length, thinking I'd talk him up and he hit me into a tree, way over deep mid-wicket, as far as I've ever been hit before. Sachin Tendulkar, age 17, shocked the living daylights out of an Ian Bishop in his pomp," Bishop said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.
In a match where none of the Indian batters were able to score more than 35 runs, Tendulkar returned with an unbeaten knock of 105 to help the tourists win by two wickets.
Commenting on Vaibhav, Bishop said the southpaw is even younger than what Sachin was in the game against Derbyshire, and the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, and Rashid Khan must have gone through the same, which he felt 35 years back.
"This kid here is even younger. He's 14 years old, taking on world-class bowlers. That must have shocked the living daylights out of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and all the rest," he added.
Even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar was impressed with Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s whirlwind batting display as he tweeted: "Vaibhav's fearless approach, bat speed, picking the length early, and transferring the energy behind the ball was the recipe behind a fabulous innings. End result: 101 runs off 38 balls. Well played!!"
During the course of his whirlwind knock, Suryavanshi broke Yusuf Pathan's 15-year-old record for the fastest IPL hundred by an Indian. His ton was the second fastest in the tournament history after Chris Gayle's century in 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2013.
