14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi made history on Monday when he became not only the youngest player to score a century in the Indian Premier League, but also the second-fastest behind Chris Gayle. Suryavanshi opened the innings for Rajasthan Royals with the home side needing 210 runs from their 20 overs. However, the youngster made a mockery of the chase as RR crossed 160 in the 12th over and even after Suryavanshi’s dismissal, they managed to chase down the total in just 16 overs.
Rahul Dravid cheers for Vaibhav Suryavanshi:
Suryavanshi’s power-hitting did not spare the spinners or the faster bowlers. In fact, the 14-year-old reached his century in style, hitting veteran bowler Rashid Khan for a six down the leg side.
Such was the emotion of the moment that even Rajasthan Royals coach Rahul Dravid, who normally keeps his emotions to himself and scratches his thoughts in a diary, stood up from his wheelchair with a proud look in his eyes as he cheered for the young cricketing prodigy. Dravid even stumbled a little as he clapped for Suryavanshi, but it didn’t matter in the moment as the entire Sawai Maan Singh Stadium became part of a story for the textbooks.
RR hand GT a convincing defeat:
Apart from Suryavanshi, his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal (70 off 40 balls) also played an impressive knock at the other end and didn’t lose his wicket till the end. Meanwhile, RR skipper Riyan Parag also showed glimpses of a return to form, hitting a couple of glorious sixes during his 32-run knock on Monday.
The win in Jaipur helped Royals keep their play-off hopes alive, at least in theory, as they remained 8th on the IPL points table. Meanwhile, GT missed out on a chance to climb to the top of the IPL points table, dropping to third behind Mumbai Indians.
