Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s ever-growing list of admirers has a new name on it — Pat Cummins.
The 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals opener smashed a hundred against Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. But that didn’t stop the Australian from showering praise on the kid.
“I think he’s my new favourite player,” Cummins said of Sooryavanshi.
“He hits the ball so hard, it’s great to watch. It’s good fun,” the Aussie pacer added.
Sooryavanshi’s breathtaking strokeplay helped him author an innings of 103 off just 37 balls — his second IPL ton — but the Sunrisers still walked away with a five-wicket victory.
The youngster’s relentless hitting means that the bowlers can’t afford to be erratic and Cummins acknowledged that, adding that Sorryavanshi has had a great start to his career.
“You’ve got to be right on the money as a bowler, because if you’re not, it’s going a long way. So he’s impressive. Yeah, he’s had a great start to his career and yeah, I love the way he plays,” Cummins said.
But are flat pitches helping the batters be so merciless on the bowlers? Is it the reason why batters like Sooryavanshi dare to take so much risk?
Cummins doesn’t mind such pitches in T20s, but added that for Tests, the wickets shouldn’t be such.
“Look, maybe. I think it’s just the way it is. The wickets might be flat, but it’s only 20 overs, you know, so it’s not a Test match where it’s flat and they’ve had a bat for five days, so I’m okay with that. It’s a maximum of four overs. Yeah, it’s fine. It is what it is.”
But Cummins agreed that such batter-friendly wickets test the quality of bowlers.
“We set up our team, obviously, to try and go big on our batting, and as bowlers, it’s up to us to try and minimise the runs.
“The scores look a little bit different compared to maybe a few years ago, but the concept is still the same. I don’t mind it. It’s fine. It’s the same for both teams,” Cummins said.
Planned reply
Sooryavanshi was on a mission against the Sunrisers on Saturday. That’s because in the first-leg meeting between the two sides, he failed with Sunrisers pacer Praful Hinge dismissing him early. But this time, he was ready.
Hinge’s comments on how he foxed Sooryavanshi with a short-pitched delivery also spurred the youngster on.
“I went with a clear plan against the bowler. After getting out in the last match, I went back and checked my phone. I saw a lot of things.
“I usually don’t pay attention to those things, but when someone says something to me personally, it affects me a bit,” Sooryavanshi said in a video released by the Royals.