Sachin Tendulkar has lauded him for his “fearless approach” and Rahul Dravid forgot his leg injury to jump for joy at Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s batting, but for the 14-year-old cricketing phenom stuff like first-ball sixes is a "normal thing".
Suryavanshi on Monday became the youngest ever centurion in T20 cricket with his 38-ball 101 for Rajasthan Royals, with 11 sixes and seven fours.
A staggering 94 of his runs came in boundaries in what was only his third game in the high-stakes IPL.
On his IPL debut, he had hit a quickfire 34 off 20 balls. And that also included a first-ball six.
"It was a normal thing for me. I have played Under-19 for India and also at the domestic level, where I have hit first-ball sixes. I was not under pressure to play out the first 10 balls. In my mind I was clear that if the ball comes in my radar, I will hit it," Suryavanshi told the IPLT20 website after his knock helped his team beat the Gujarat Titans on Monday night.
"It was not like that I was thinking it's my first game. Yes, there was an international bowler [in front of me] and the stage was big but I was just playing my game," he recalled.
The youngster from Bihar's Samastipur was born three years after the IPL got underway. His marauding knock makes him the first player who is younger than the league itself to score a hundred in it.
Suryavanshi’s ton against Gujarat Titans off only 35 balls is the fastest by an Indian player in the league and second only to Chris Gayle's 30-ball century in 2013.
Suryavanshi expressed gratitude towards his parents -- father Sanjeev and mother Aarti -- for sacrificing their comforts for his growth.
"I am what I am because of my parents. My mother, for the sake of my practice schedule, wakes up at 2 in the morning after going to sleep at 11, sleeping barely three hours,” he said.
"She then prepares meals for me. My father left his work to support me. My elder brother is taking care of his work and the household is running with great difficulty. But papa is backing me," he said.
"...god ensures that those who work hard never fail. The results that we are seeing and the success that I am achieving is because of my parents."
The youngster vowed to keep his focus despite the spotlight and work towards finding a place in the national team.
"I want to contribute for India and I have to work hard for that. I cannot stop working hard till I achieve that level. I will try to do well for the country," he said.
He was also thankful towards the Rajasthan Royals team management for instilling confidence in him at step of the way after he was brought on board following a trial.
"I was preparing for this moment for a long time and I am happy that it worked out the way I wanted. In the trials, I batted well and there was [batting coach] Vikram [Rathour] sir and (team manager] Romi [Bhinder] sir who said we will try to pick you in the team.
"They introduced me to [head coach] Rahul [Dravid] sir. To be trained by Rahul sir is a dream come true and I get a lot of support from the other support staff and senior players, they give me confidence that I can do it," he said.
"They always tell me that I can win it for the team. There is no pressure of what will happen next because they motivate me," he added.
Rajasthan Royals batting coach Vikram Rathour said Vaibhav is a special talent.
"We have been watching it nets for last few months, we knew what he is capable of and what shots he can play but to do it in front of these kind of crowd and in a situation like this against a really good bowling attack, it was really special and lot of credit to him [Suryavanshi]," Rathour said at the post-match press conference.
"He is a special talent and he has got great downswing if go into technique and that helps him generate this kind of power and today he showed everybody how good he is. For a 14-year-old kid to play like this definitely makes him special. We saw him first time four months back when he came for the trials and from that day onwards we knew we have found something special and it was on us to nurture him and bring him to this level," he added.
