India may have fallen for their 14-year-old cricket hero, but young Vaibhav Suryavanshi just looked like any dejected schoolboy might after he crashed straight back down to earth in Jaipur.
In front of the Rajasthan Royals fans and with the nation’s billion eyes upon him on Thursday after his head-turning century just three days earlier, Suryavanshi strode to the crease to lead the chase of Mumbai Indians’ 217-2, dreaming of his next conjuring act.
Alas, just two balls later, he was trudging off, barely able to tear himself away from the wicket, a youthful study in misery, after depositing an attempted drive off Deepak Chahar into the hands of Will Jacks at mid-on.
It was difficult to ascertain who was the more disappointed – the batter who had blasted a 35-ball century off against Gujarat Titans on Monday or the silent crowd at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium who believed anything was possible.
Words of consolation from around the ground, and from the commentary box, attempted to cushion the blow for the distraught youngster who, as Royals coach Rahul Dravid had warned, is bound to taste failure to go with the precocious successes.
But after his dismissal seemed to take the wind completely out of everyone’s sails, except the Mumbai attack, Rajasthan collapsed to 117 all out. The only century Suryavanshi was going to see this day was Rajasthan’s 100-run defeat lit up on the scoreboard, signifying the end of the Royals’ title hopes.
Mumbai’s India captain Rohit Sharma gave Suryavanshi a pat and some uplifting words after the match, and the fuss gave an idea of just how much the youngster’s achievements have captured the imagination.
But reality bit quickly once Mumbai, who had been put in, established a total that set up their sixth consecutive win to go top of the table.
South African player of the match Ryan Rickelton (61) and Sharma (53) put on 116 for the first wicket, before the tournament’s top run-scorer Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya upped the ante with unbeaten knocks of 48, pounding 94 off just 44 balls for the third wicket.
In reply, Rajasthan slumped to 47-5 inside the powerplay with their formidable opening attack of Trent Boult (3-28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-15) proving too much for the hosts, before impact sub Karn Sharma spun the lower order out to finish with 3-23.
Sunday will be the next chance for India to see Suryavanshi in action at the country’s greatest cricket arena, Eden Gardens in Kolkata where the Knight Riders will host the Royals.
