In the normal course, if someone allowed a 15-year-old to face Jasprit Bumrah, they would be reported to the authorities for endangering a child’s well-being. Bumrah bowls an awkward bouncer and an accurate yorker. He can literally do damage from head to toe.
At IPL 2025, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dismissed before Bumrah came into the attack for the Mumbai Indians. One year later, the first ball the maestro delivered to the young left-hand bat was slightly off target, and a wristy whip sent it over long-on for six. Three balls later, Bumrah pulled back the length, and Sooryavanshi pounced again, on the back foot, swivelling, sending the ball into the stands over square-leg.
Jasprit Bumrah against RR on Tuesday. Pic/IPL
Sooryavanshi only made 39 (14b, 1×4, 5×6), but he still overshadowed Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 32-ball unbeaten 77 that set up a 27-run Rajasthan Royals win in a rain-shortened 11-over match. In 25 minutes at the crease, Sooryavanshi had again confirmed what his supporters insist — he’s ready for the next level.
Sooryavanshi may have chosen not to give his Class X board exams, but from a cricketing point of view, he’s like a student who keeps getting double promotions and yet finds the question paper too easy. At every level, from domestic age-group to Ranji Trophy, to India U-19 to the IPL, baby-faced Sooryavanshi has taken on grown men and come out on top.
When a player of Sooryavanshi’s talent breaks through, the temptation to fast-track is balanced by cautionary voices. Too many players before him have been thrust into the big league too early and faded away as quickly as they rose. But, equally, a generational talent — and he has had the support of some great coaches — must be challenged. There’s no point sending him back to domestic T20 cricket to beat up bowlers.
Comparisons to the one prodigy to exceed all expectations, Sachin Tendulkar, are dangerous, but unavoidable. While there will never be another Sachin, Sooryavanshi’s takedown of Bumrah reminded some of the takedown of Abdul Qadir, the great leggie, by a 16-year-old in 1989.
When the burning question of whether Tendulkar was too young to be exposed to grown men in the Pakistan bowling attack on the 1989 tour arose, the late Raj Singh Dungarpur went to Vasoo Paranjape for counsel. What would happen if the young boy were badly hit by a fast bowler and his confidence was shattered? “Yeh lagne wala player nahin, lagaane wala player hai [he’s not a player who will be hit, he’s a player who will hit it],” replied Paranjape, and all questions were laid to rest.
Sooryavanshi, with two sweet strikes off the best all-format bowler in the world, has answered the question even before it could be asked.
