sri lankan giants Kumar Sangakkara He recalled a memorable experience involving teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the last edition of the Indian Premier League, when he was serving as the Director of Cricket of Rajasthan Royals.
Sangakkara revealed that it was the first time he had seen Suryavanshi bat in the nets and what happened next took everyone by surprise.
“The first time I saw Vaibhav was when I came to Guwahati for a two-week period. And I went to the side, there was a tiny, terrible little side net to face Archer and Sandeep Sharma and all the fast bowlers with the new ball, and nobody really wanted to bat there. And I saw it, Vaibhav was walking [and telling him]'I will bat.' The new balls are coming and I can hear the sound of his bat every time, like a gunshot,” Sangakkara said on Sky Sports.
“And I think he hit Archer with the sword; he hit Sandeep Sharma with the sword. So much so that at one point, I think Archer stopped and started laughing. Because he was bowling fast, and this 14-year-old kid was treating him with complete contempt,” he added.
Sangakkara revealed that after watching Suryavanshi's breathtaking performance in the nets, he immediately told Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid that the teenage sensation is ready to play for the franchise. However, Suryavanshi was not included in India's playing XI for the first T20I against Ireland, where the defending world champions suffered a crushing defeat to the hosts at Stormont.
Sangakkara said, “And then I saw him, and my reaction to Rahul coming out was that yes, you are ready to play whenever you want. The kid is absolutely incredible.”
Chasing a target of 183 to win, India were all out for 148 in 18.5 overs as Ireland recorded a memorable win in the series opener at Stormont. The second and final T20 match will be played at the same venue on Sunday.
Get every cricket update! Follow us: :
Leave a Reply