NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, a 13-year-old cricket prodigy, made history on Tuesday by hitting the fastest century for India in U-19 Tests during the first unofficial game against Australia U-19 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Vaibhav’s incredible knock showcased a brilliant mix of power hitting and timing, as he reached his century off just 58 deliveries.Vaibhav’s blistering knock included 14 fours and four sixes before getting run out for 104.
However, despite his blazing innings, Suryavanshi narrowly missed out on breaking England cricketer Moeen Ali‘s record for the fastest century in the overall U-19 Test cricket list. Moeen scored the hundred in 56 deliveries way back in 2005.
Vaibhav, who made his debut in Ranji game between Mumbai and Bihar last season, first made headlines in January this year when he became the youngest debutant in Ranji Trophy history, taking the field for Bihar at just 12 years old.
By doing so, he surpassed the records held by cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh. Former India all-rounder Yuvraj (15 years and 57 days) was younger than Sachin (15 years and 230 days) when he made his first-class debut.
Vaibhav, a left-handed batter, takes inspiration from the West Indies legend Brian Lara. He has a collection of Lara’s videos with him and watched Lara’s match-winning knocks, especially the veteran’s 400-not out against England in Antigua in 2004.
“My idol is Brian Lara. I watch his videos and batting style. I just love his 400 not-out innings. I have watched it several times. The best thing I like about him is that he doesn’t leave the match in between. He doesn’t give up. I have seen the match-winning attitude in him and this is the top-most thing I want to learn from him. I just love the way he used to take the match till the end and then win it. I want to dominate the bowlers the way Lara did,” an elated Vaibhav told TimesofIndia.com in an interview in January this year.