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Cricket PlayersVaibhav Sooryavanshi blames himself after missing out on record IPL century
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi narrowly missed out on breaking Chris Gayle's long-standing record of fastest IPL century.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was so close to history, but it wasn't meant to be for the teen prodigy on Wednesday. The Rajasthan Royals' opening batter missed out on the fastest Indian Premier League (IPL) century as he lost his wicket to Praful Hinge on 97 in the Eliminator against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 15-year-old was batting on 97 off 28 balls, and if he had hit a boundary or a six off the next delivery, Chris Gayle's record for the fastest IPL ton off 30 balls would have been broken. But fate had something else in mind as Sooryavanshi ended up losing his wicket.
After getting dismissed, the entire Mullanpur stadium was stunned into silence, and Sooryavanshi was slow to get back to the pavilion. The left-hander sported a dejected look, and even his teammates could not believe what had just happened.
However, Sooryavanshi's knock did help the Royals post a mammoth 243/8 in 20 overs in the Eliminator. At the mid-innings, the youngster wore the Orange Cap, and it was then that he rued an error, saying that had he played a proper shot, he would have gotten to a century.
Also Read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi misses fastest IPL 100 by a whisker but mows down hat-trick of records with 12 breathtaking sixes
“I wasn’t really thinking about it like that, but I played that shot after looking at the fielder, and that’s why I mistimed it. If I had gone towards the third man, it would have cleared easily. But I tried to hit it straight, and that’s why I missed the shot,” Sooryavanshi told the broadcaster at the mid-innings.
Speaking of Sooryavanshi's dismissal, Hinge bowled a short and wide delivery, and the batter moved across, going for an upper cut over third man. However, the left-hander didn't get the desired connection, and the fielder took a simple catch.
‘No pressure’
Sooryavanshi also revealed that before the knockout game against the Sunrisers, all the Royals coaches told him not to put pressure on himself and just enjoy the occasion.
“All the coaches told me to do whatever I was doing in the practice sessions. They told me to enjoy and not take pressure,” Sooryavanshi said.
When Sooryavanshi was going all guns blazing, it seemed that the Royals would post in excess of 280, but the final five overs saw Sunrisers staging a comeback and restricting the Royals to 243.
“Even after I got out, it seemed that we would get 270-280. But it is what it is. We will look to defend the score and execute our plans,” said the youngster.
The 97-run knock saw Sooryavanshi become the Orange Cap holder, and he even broke Gayle's record of smashing the most sixes in a single IPL season. He also became the youngest batter in the history of the tournament to score more than 600 runs in a single IPL season.
