IPL 2025: Suryavanshi silver lining in RR’s narrow loss
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, at just 14, became the youngest IPL player, hitting a six on his first ball as LSG narrowly defeated RR in a thrilling match.
New Delhi: There are times when a match fades into oblivion because there’s something greater at play. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)-Rajasthan Royals (RR) game was one of those and it was all down to the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
At 14 years and 23 days, not only did he become the youngest ever to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) – breaking the record of Prayas Ray Barman who made his debut for RCB in 2019 at the age of 16 years and 157 days – he also smashed the first ball he faced for a six.
In case, you were interested in the cricket too, RR started well, restricted LSG to 180/5 and then looked well on course to win (needing 25 off 18 balls) before they ran out of steam as only they can to lose by two runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored for RR with 74 runs off 52 balls but it was Abdul Samad’s 10-ball 30 and Avesh Khan’s brilliant bowling at the death (defending nine runs in the last over) that sealed the deal for LSG.
It was RR’s fourth loss in a row but the moment when many fans sat up in their seats was on the fourth ball of the chase. Shardul Thakur was the bowler. Yahsasvi Jaiswal has played the first three and scored five runs off them. Then, Suryavanshi, who was playing as an Impact Player, finally got a crack at the bowling.
It was a length delivery and Suryavanshi backed away, made some space and flat-batted the ball over extra-cover for a six. This was the moment when all the ‘What were you doing at 14?’ memes started flooding the internet.
Suryavanshi might be used to this – he has already represented India at the U-19 level and cracked a 58-ball century against Australia Under-19 in a four-day game too. But to most watching, the power he generates with his 14-year-old muscles is nothing short of amazing.
You want to remember every little moment of this knock because even though you don’t quite know how Suryavanshi will turn out but there is a chance that this might be the start of something special.
The six was followed by a single and then the next ball he faced (from Avesh Khan) was pumped down the ground for another six. He stayed deep in the crease and powered through the fullish delivery with ease.
He could have been gone next ball -- a leading edge fell between deep third and point. And then he got another life when he was dropped on 14 by Prince Yadav. It wasn’t an easy chance but as luck would have it, the ball rolled to the boundary line as well.
Jaiswal, who started playing for RR at 18, got into the act soon after to take the pressure off the young tyro. He didn’t really need to though. The youngster from Bihar played with a calm demeanour that belied his age –rotating the strike well, hitting the odd big shot and displaying good game awareness as well.
Technically, there might be some work to be done but mentally, Suryavanshi was rock solid. To walk to the middle of a packed stadium and simply do your thing isn’t easy and for that alone, the 14-year-old deserves a lot of credit.
RR had put out a video of Suryavanshi early in the season and he was slamming ball after ball out of the ground. Then, the team management had wanted to hold him back but on Saturday he showed that they might not be able to do that anymore.
They bought him for ₹1.1 crore in the auction after he impressed at their high-performance center in Nagpur and with Rahul Dravid around to mentor him, they might just have struck gold.
Suryavanshi’s innings ended when he was stumped off Aiden Markram after making 34 off 20 balls. The knock included two fours and three sixes.
This poor run will leave RR with some questions to answer but in Suryavanshi, they might just find an answer to a few of them. For the young man, it must’ve been quite the rollercoaster but that too is a learning he must get.
