- LSG coach Justin Langer talking about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
- 15-year-old Sooryavanshi taking the IPL by storm
- Sooryavanshi current Orange Cap leader
Former Australian coach Justin Langer is the latest star to be left awestruck by the talented Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Langer, who played over 100 tests for Australia and coached them to a T20 World Cup win, as well as coached Perth Scorchers to multiple BBL wins, knows a thing or two about talented players.
So when a legend like Langer says that Sooryavanshi will only get better, “which is scary for World cricket”, everyone had better listen.
Sooryavanshi in the IPL
The current Orange Cap holder for the most runs, 15-year-old Sooryavanshi has scored 579 runs in 13 matches played. However, those runs have come off only 245 balls, with a strike rate of 236.33. To show how impressive that is, Mitchell Marsh is in second, only 16 runs behind him but faced 100 balls more.
He has scored one century and three scores of 50 or more, with 68 fours and 77 sixes. Over the two seasons in the IPL for Vaibhav, he has scored 831 runs at a strike rate of 226.43.
He came to prominence as a 14-year-old playing for India U19s. The youngster scored a explosive 175 off 80 balls in the U19 World Cup Final against England.
“It’s a real privilege to watch him bat”
Langer had nothing but praise for the youngster, after Sooryavanshi’s 93 off 38 balls against Langer’s Lucknow Super Giants gave Rajasthan Royals the win, and kept their fate in their own hands. Langer had this to say:
“In all my time, I’ve seen some amazing players in 35 years of cricket. To see a young man bat like that, not just tonight but throughout the series, is breathtaking.
“Do you know how I judge it? I think the last game, Mitchell Starc, who’s one of the all-time great white-ball bowlers, he’s bowling and he’s almost…you look at the expression on his face. And [Anrich] Nortje, who’s a world-class international bowler. Sooryavanshi is hitting him and the expression on their face is such that: ‘What is happening here?’
“So whilst as an ex-batter, knowing how hard batting is, I think, ‘What is going on here?’ The bowlers are thinking, ‘What on earth is going on here?’
“The scary thing is, the best way to learn how to make runs is to make runs, not by hitting some big sixes, and he makes runs over and over and over again. So the scary thing going forward, if the expressions of Mitch Starc and Nortje and every bowler tell a story now, what about when he learns how to bat? My gosh, he’s so young. He’s a brilliant, brilliant player and it’s a real privilege to watch him bat actually.”
Best is yet to come
Langer also said that the bowlers hadn’t seen the best of Sooryavanshi. He said:
“You know, people say to me, would Bradman have made so many runs in the days where they could wear helmets or blah, blah, blah, and I’d say well, he would adapt. And Sooryavanshi’s that good. Wherever he plays, he’s going to adapt his game because where are they going to bowl to him? I don’t see where they are going to bowl to him. So he’ll adapt, he’ll keep getting better and better, which is scary for World cricket.”
Sooryavanshi is a definite talent and one to keep an eye on, as he is only going to get better. If the likes of Justin Langer says so, then who am I to argue?
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