Cricket has metamorphosed. From being the ‘gentleman’s game’, dressed in flannels and floppy hats, it is now more like an adventure sport, flaunting machismo, pampering the fearless.
‘Fearless’ is the game’s new favourite term. Everyone is desperate to be fearless. At times, it is out of compulsion, but more often, fearlessness in modern-day cricket seems to be just a needless show of misplaced bravery, bordering on recklessness. When it works, the adrenaline rush gives an intoxicating high, but given the unpredictable nature of the sport, sustainability is always an issue.
In the last seven days of IPL action, the cricket world was introduced to one Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the “8th grader” who mesmerised Google CEO Sundar Pichai among others. After Suryavanshi exploded with audacious shots on debut for Rajasthan Royals, Pichai wrote on X: “Woke up to watch an 8th grader play in the IPL!!!! What a debut!”
What did Suryavanshi do exactly? Opening the innings against Lucknow Super Giants, he blitzed his way to 34 off just 20 balls. The very first delivery he faced in the IPL, a length ball around the off-stump from Shardul Thakur, Suryavanshi smashed it over the extra-cover boundary with utter disdain.
The commentators were gobsmacked, the shocked-and-awed spectators at the ground fell silent for a few seconds before remembering they needed to applaud... Whoever saw it happen, in person or via the satellite relay, stood in attention, saluting ‘Boss Baby’ for his fearless approach to batting.
Most of us saw the six, but did you notice how he loaded up for the shot? He backed away, exposing all his stumps, before unleashing an almighty swing. What mindset forces a 14-year-old to take that amount of risk off his very first ball in IPL? Conventional wisdom says such a risk is not worth taking, but then what has wisdom got to do with cricket of today?
The Royals were chasing 181, not 281, and the chase was still in its first over. Not just personally, it was needless even from the team’s point of view. But from the reactions across different platforms, it seemed nobody was bothered about that. In see-it-hit-it cricket, such an act is celebrated, seldom condemned.
Michael Vaughan thinks Suryavanshi “is incredible”, Sanjay Manjrekar believes he “has the mind of a 30-year-old” and Suresh Raina said he will “rule cricket in the future”. With such validation from former cricketers, no one would dare try to school the youngster about the difference between being fearless and foolish.
The desire to be fearless is contagious. Suryavanshi is not the only one afflicted by it. Take CSK’s 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre, whose 15-ball 32 on debut against Mumbai Indians on Sunday impressed MS Dhoni. Mhatre did not hit the first delivery he faced for a six, but he did hit two sixes and a four off his first four balls.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming, even while praising Mhatre, made an important point. “I think there are examples all around the place where players are playing free. It’s impressive, not always sustainable... And what you’re seeing is young players that are feeding off other performances. I think their expectation of how they should play is going up,” the New Zealander said.
Yes, expectations are indeed going up. Suryavanshi had tears in his eyes after being stumped by Rishabh Pant not just because he is a kid, but also maybe because his expectations from himself are as high as his shots. If that’s the case, someone needs to tell him, “Kid, you did very well in your debut innings!”
Also, these youngsters, even while they swing their bats like men possessed, will do well to take a cue from the likes of Shubman Gill and B. Sai Sudharsan, who with their craft are proving in every IPL innings that you can be a successful batter in T20 cricket even if you take the more sensible path, bypassing unnecessary, extravagant shots too early in the innings and unfurling your genius as the game progresses. Just note how Gujarat Titans’ Gill and Sudharsan tormented KKR with their 114-run stand at Eden Gardens on Monday.
So while ‘fearless’ is what most young batters nowadays are aspiring to be, one wonders if ‘fear less’ would be a much more profitable choice.
