He doesn’t wait for the game to unfold. He makes the game unfold. That may sound reckless for a 15-year-old, but in the case of Vaibhav Suryavanshi, this is instinctive behavior. This article is an attempt to understand the reason behind the fearless batting of the youngster. It is not about the sixes he hits. It is about how he thinks, trains and responds to pressure. From the nets to the matches, the approach is the same: attack first, adapt later, but never slow down.
Of course, there is reason and a lot of backing behind his confidence. The coaches’ attempts to mould him, the conditions putting him through the test early on, but the approach still remained the same. Be it practice matches, age-group cricket or the IPL, the intent is the same. The result is a batter who sees every ball as an opportunity, not a threat.
Practice to handle Pressure
His long and repetitive sessions laid the foundation of the fearless approach to the game. As a child, he faced 400-500 balls in a single sitting which in return helped him to get used to match-time preparations.
He always practiced his attacking shots. Lofted hits were not just experiments in a match situation. These were a regular occurrence in his game. Even in a structured net practice, he always opted for a big hit. Coaches advised balance, but he leaned into his strength. Over time, that turned into second-nature to him. So, when he attacks in matches, it feels natural, not forced.
The Limitless Mindset
His philosophy is simple. He believes that if a ball is good enough to be hit for six, why not for one? This sense of belief that he has carried with him throughout his career, has taken his game to a different beast altogether.
Even during the trials, targets set to test him were cleared in no time. He showed flexibility in changing the area to score. This, too, did not deter him. It was a mindset. That explains why he does not get unfazed by any bowler. In his last game in the IPL, the new ball was swinging. Yet, he decided to attack and get to a quick 15-ball fifty. The pitch was not conducive, but he decided to show his intent.
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Learning Without Losing Identity
There were stages where he had to adapt. In the Under-19 World Cup, he would get a lot of starts, but he could not convert them into big-ones. That was a void. He was aware of this.
The reaction was not to change his aggression but to add control to his game. In the final of U-19 World Cup, he scored an astounding 175 when it mattered most. This change in his game showed maturity on his part.
In the end, his fearlessness is not random. It is built, tested and refined.
