The world of Vaibhav Suryavanshi is out of control and it’s all his brilliant fault. Great players in cricket are fumbling for suitable adjectives to anoint him with. Newspapers in India reserve almost entire pages for him. Nothing is in proportion but then neither is the skill he displayed for his age. Under the bright lights of the big time, for one magical night, a kid with puppy fat didn’t blink.
On April 28, in his third match at the elite level, Vaibhav hit the second-fastest century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 35 balls. At any age, in a league soaked in competitiveness, it was a performance to swoon over. At his age it was akin to speaking classical Greek. Oh wait, did I mention his age? Maybe it’s best to repeat the opening line of an Australian podcast, The Grade Cricketer, which began its show on Vaibhav with the incredulous repeating of his age.
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