PATNA: Sanjeev Suryavanshi was lounging at home in Samastipur on Monday, oblivious of the fact in far away Jeddah, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals were throwing big money during the IPL auction in pursuit of his 13-year-old son Vaibhav’s cricketing abilities.
A farmer with a small piece of land in Tajpur village, Sanjeev got to know of Vaibhav’s record-setting Rs 1.10 cr deal with the Royals only when his son called him up from Dubai, where he is a part of the India squad for the Asia Cup U19 Championship, in which the Indians will take on Pakistan in their opening clash on Saturday.
Sanjeev, also a part-time journalist, told TOI that Vaibhav had been asked to attend trials by both Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in Delhi and Nagpur respectively, and that he had exceeded expectations in both.
“In Nagpur, he was asked to score 17 runs in one over. He hit three huge sixes off the first three balls that he faced.
“He performed excellently in DC trials too. That’s why DC was also interested,” the proud father added. Vaibhav also scored a 62-ball 104 in the first Youth Test for India U-19 against Australia U-19 in Chennai.
“He started playing at the age of five in our courtyard, where I set up a net for him. He still practises there sometimes, but he is seldom home these days,” said the father, who had to sell off a katha of his small farm land to finance his son’s cricketing dreams.
“At the age of ten, he started playing local cricket with senior players and scored a lot of centuries, including a double century, after which he was selected to play in Shyamal Sinha U16 tournament.
“He scored a double century in a 40-over match, which is a record,” added Sanjeev, speaking of the state record that Vaibhav enjoys as the only Bihar cricketer with a double ton in an U16 tournament.
