Mumbai: A few years ago, the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) faced an unusual predicament. A 12-year-old boy from Samastipur was emerging as a prodigious talent, but he couldn’t be played in the Bihar U-16 team due to BCCI rules introduced during the Covid era, which required players to be 14 years or older to qualify for the U-16 level.
“I saw him for the first time when he was just 11 or 12 at the Gen Next Academy in Patna, where he was training under Manish Ojha, a former Bihar player. Due to the rules, we couldn’t pick him. Interestingly, those rules didn’t restrict him from playing for the U-19s. We approached BCA president Rakesh Tiwary and he told us, ‘If you’re convinced about his talent and future, go ahead and pick him, but just take care of him,’” said Ashok Kumar, head coach of Bihar’s senior team and former coach of the U-19 and U-23 sides.
That boy was Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who, at the age of just 14, became the youngest-ever T20 centurion after smashing a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans.
“I told Vishnu Vardhan, the match referee at the Vinoo Mankad Trophy (U-19 One-dayers) in Chandigarh, that we had a talented 12-year-old called Vaibhav. Before our first match, against Assam, Vaibhav insisted on playing in the XI. I wanted him to debut against Manipur instead, but he said, ‘I’ll win you the match, sir.’ And he did, scoring 89. That attitude and intent stood out to me. He was different,” Ashok recalled.
“Vishnu sent a recording of that innings to India U-19 chief selector S Sharath, who then sent a selector to watch Vaibhav play. Initially, the selector couldn’t believe he was from Bihar! He thought we’d recruited him from Delhi. Vaibhav scored 148 in that match against Haryana, though we fell short chasing 270. He was upset at the loss, but his journey had begun.
“Vaibhav was then picked for the BCCI’s U-19 Challenger Trophy, then the U-19 Quadrangular, though he didn’t get a game and was disappointed. But eventually, he got his chance in the ‘test’ matches against Australia (Sept 2024). I told him, ‘Whether it’s one-day or test, don’t change your aggressive approach. That’s your biggest strength. If you stop attacking, your game will collapse.’ On his U-19 Test debut, he scored a 58-ball ton, the fastest by an Indian U-19 player,” said Ashok.
Who’s that IPL player?
At the 2024 ACC U-19 Asia Cup, Suryavanshi scored 76 off 46 balls against the UAE and followed it up with 67 off 36 balls against Sri Lanka in the semifinal. His childhood coach, Manish Ojha, told TOI from Patna, “He was eight when I started coaching him. He’s a god-gifted, natural talent. He loves playing his strokes. I helped him channel that into becoming an attacking batsman. His six-hitting ability is incredible. If he continues like this, I see him playing for India in two years.”
Seeing his high backlift, it’s not hard to identify his cricketing idol. “Vaibhav idolises Brian Lara. He attacks like Lara did — regardless of the bowler’s reputation — and his high backlift mirrors Lara’s. All 16 IPL sixes have come against international bowlers,” Jha noted.
Incidentally, Vaibhav made his Ranji Trophy debut when he was 12 years old.
