Vaibhav Suryavanshi: A generational talent or a single-gear aggressor?

An India-Pakistan final. A steep target of 348.

Pakistan’s Sameer Minhas had set the tone with a daddy hundred – 172 off 113 balls – in their innings. On a good batting pitch in Dubai, India backed themselves to chase it down and win their seventh U-19 Asia Cup title. After all, in opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi, they had one of the most destructive and feared young batters in the age-group in their ranks.

The 14-year-old did not disappoint – the first ball of the innings from Ali Raza was deposited in the stands over deep square leg. He smashed another maximum and a four in the over, which ultimately went for 21 runs. He continued to throw the kitchen sink at everything, even getting a lifeline in the second over – being dropped by Raza off Mohammad Sayyam.

India soon lost their captain Ayush Mhatre (2) and Aaron George (16) – both falling to rush of blood – in consecutive overs to leave India in trouble at 49/2. One expected Suryavanshi to bat with caution, given the situation. Alas, the exuberance of youth! In the fifth over, the 14-year-old failed to check his shot as he nicked a climbing delivery off Raza to the keeper, delivering India a telling blow.

While the jury is out on Suryavanshi’s attitude, courtesy of his dust-of-my-feet response to the fiery send-off by Raza, who had the last laugh, the manner of dismissal is what should worry him and his coaches. In fact, Mhatre, George and Vihaan Malhotra (7) too were guilty of crossing the fine line between aggression and recklessness without a second thought.

The natural game?

It’s easy, almost customary now, to term such failures as collateral damage for letting an aggressive batter play his natural game. The best example would be senior wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who has irked the experts and fans (and even coach Gautam Gambhir, it seems) alike with his poor choice of shots in crunch situations. There have been gems from his bat, such as the 89* at Gabba in 2021, the 101 against England in Ahmedabad and the 125* against the same opponents in a 2022 ODI, to name a few. But, such innings have been few and far between. Not only has Pant been out of India’s T20 setup, his place in ODIs and Tests, too, has been under scrutiny.

Like Pant, Suryavanshi has immense talent and is a maverick. Last year, he had scored a 58-ball century against Australia U-19 in a Youth Test match in Chennai in October 2024, and was also part of the team that reached the final of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup last year, where he scored 176 runs at an average of 44. The youngster announced himself on the international stage earlier this year, with a 38-ball 101 for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in the IPL, becoming the youngest-ever centurion in men's T20 cricket. RR had bagged him for Rs 1.1 crore in the IPL auction – a 13-year-old Suryavanshi then became the youngest to earn an IPL deal.

In domestic cricket, however, he has not set the stage on fire, with 207 runs in eight first-class matches at an average of 17.25.

In the recently-concluded U-19 Asia Cup, he scored a spectacular 171 against the UAE, but, in the next four matches, the only other score of substance was a 50 against Malaysia.

Temperamental or technical?

There are calls already to fast-track him into the Indian team. But, is he technically and psychologically ready for international cricket? The national selectors, thankfully, have resisted the urge so far. And his recent performances, including yesterday’s final, might force them to keep such ideas on the back-burner. There are also genuine concerns about whether, at 14, Suryavanshi’s body is ready for the rigours of modern international cricket.

That aside, while his ultra-aggressive batting might be pleasing to the eyes and make for some good highlight reels, he has been guilty of over-attacking even at the domestic level. A batter who relies greatly on hand-eye coordination, Suryavanshi has been found to be vulnerable against pacy bouncers and short balls, and late swing. His restricted foot movement, too, is a concern. It makes him susceptible to being bowled or caught LBW off deliveries targeted at his stumps, and also to nicks and edges when cramped for room. That he goes at the deliveries with hard hands, compounds his problems.

Also, he is yet to showcase multiple gears in his batting – that is, if the all-out attack isn’t working, he doesn’t seem to grind it out. He is yet to show the maturity to rotate the strike, especially against spin, and take time to settle down when things aren’t going his way.

One hopes that, with experience and the right inputs from coaches, Suryavanshi will iron out his technical flaws and live up to his true potential. Being aggressive on the field is not always about shouting expletives at your opponents when given a fiery send-off, or celebrating in their faces; it’s about letting your bat or ball do the talking when the team needs it the most. Virat Kohli, for all his aggression, would not have been what he is today (fourth in the list of all-time run-scorers in international cricket), if he did not have over 27,000 runs to his name across formats. The young turks would do well to remember it, and also how he got there.