Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may have shot to fame with his fearless batting, but the teenage sensation also has a genuine love for bowling. The 15-year-old showed that side of his game during East Zone’s Duleep Trophy quarter-final against North East Zone and then cheekily suggested that captain Ishan Kishan had underestimated his ability to take wickets.
Sooryavanshi was given the ball when East Zone were looking for wickets after enforcing the follow-on in Bengaluru. He needed just four deliveries to make an impact, picking up two wickets in his three-over spell. The youngster dismissed Kishan Lyngdoh for 25 before removing Imliwati Lemtur three balls later. Both wickets came from his left-arm spin, with Denish Das taking the first catch and Kishan completing the second.
For Sooryavanshi, though, the spell was about more than simply helping his team. He has always enjoyed bowling and was delighted to get an opportunity to contribute with the ball after an unsuccessful outing with the bat. “If you ask batters, they always enjoy bowling. A batter bowling or a bowler batting is enjoyable for the player. Wickets weren’t falling for the opposing team. Thus, I was asked to bowl two or three overs. Ishan bhaiya felt like he was taking a risk by giving me the ball. But he doesn’t know that I am a wicket-taker,” Sooryavanshi cheekily said in a video shared by BCCI.
The 15-year-old had been looking forward to making the most of his opportunity. Although he was only expected to bowl a few overs, Sooryavanshi believed he could still make a significant contribution.
“In my mind, I only thought that even if I take five wickets, I am only getting three overs to bowl. I tried to bowl as best as I could, in one spot, and to finish my spell. It was a lot of fun because batting didn’t go so well in the last match, so contributing to the team with the ball was fun. When a batter takes a wicket, there is no greater enjoyment than that,” said Sooryavanshi.
Sooryavanshi’s bowling intervention came after a disappointing outing with the bat. Making his Duleep Trophy debut for East Zone, where he was named vice-captain, the left-hander scored eight off six balls.
East Zone went on to dominate the quarter-final. After posting 467 in their first innings, they bowled North East Zone out for 111 and enforced the follow-on. Sooryavanshi’s two wickets helped East Zone maintain their grip on the match as they secured an innings-and-210-run victory.
The two wickets doubled Sooryavanshi’s first-class wickets tally to four. While his batting remains his primary weapon, his enthusiasm for bowling and ability to contribute with his left-arm spin gives him another dimension as he continues to develop his game.
Sooryavanshi will next be in action for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone in Bengaluru, beginning on Sunday.
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