Suryavanshi rose to fame when he was drafted at age 13 last November. In a splashy debut this month, he hit the first ball he faced for six at the same venue.
He showed brutal power-hitting on Monday against a battery of seasoned international bowlers including Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma and Washington Sundar.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi celebrates his century.Credit: AP
The teenager smacked Sharma for three sixes and two fours in one over and clubbed spinner Sundar for two sixes and a four to raise this IPL’s fastest half-century off a mere 17 balls.
Suryavanshi raced to 94 when he hammered Afghanistan fast bowler Karim Janat for three sixes and three fours in Janat’s first over in the IPL, and raised the hundred against the great Khan.
“It was incredible,” Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag said of Suryavanshi. “We’ve spent two months with him (and) we have seen what he can do, but to see him do this against the world-class bowlers GT has, (I) can’t express in words.”
Suryavanshi was patted on the back by his partner Jaiswal as he celebrated, removed his helmet and raised his bat to acknowledge the applause of the home crowd. He also saluted his teammates in the dugout with his bat.
Only West Indies great Chris Gayle has hit an IPL hundred in less balls, 30, and that was 12 years ago.
Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna finally clean-bowled Suryavanshi, who left to another standing ovation and to hugs from teammates.
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Left-handers Suryavanshi and Jaiswal raised Rajasthan’s highest stand for any wicket in the IPL, and the teenager eclipsed Sanju Samson’s record of 10 sixes in an IPL innings for an Indian batter.
“Batting with him (Jaiswal) gives me confidence because he keeps very positive, (and it) becomes easy to bat with him,” Suryavanshi said.
AP
