A knock beyond his years
The innings did not begin in trademark fashion. Sooryavanshi crawled to 11 from his first 12 deliveries while stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal raced away at the other end. But once set, the teenager unleashed chaos.
He smashed 26 runs off an over from Akash Singh and followed it with 29 against Mayank Yadav, racing to a 23-ball fifty before adding 43 more in just 15 deliveries.
A slower ball from Mohsin Khan denied him a hundred, leaving the youngster visibly distraught. But the applause from the Jaipur crowd — and even the opposition camp — told the bigger story.
“I don’t read papers and all,” Sooryavanshi said afterwards with a smile. “This is just the start. If I have a long career, a lot of things will be said. I just want to focus on my game and complete my journey.”
Jaiswal perhaps summed it up best. “The way Vaibhav batted, he absolutely killed the game. We said one of us should bat till the end — and he killed the game.”