Vaibhav Sooryavanshi : The volcano that keeps erupting.

It's November 1989. A young curly haired batsman from Mumbai is struck on the nose by a sharp bouncer from Waqar Younis. The non-striker goes up to him and asks him if he is fine. He says “MAI KHELEGA”( i will play on) and whips the next ball for a glorious on drive.  

That youngster became Sachin Tendulkar and we all know what he did next. Multiple records shattered, multiple stories about how he literally halted trains, film shoots, and even a mention about how the American stock market shooting upwards when he batted. The chants of Sachin Sachin still echo at the Wankhede all these years later.

But why this sudden Sachin anecdote??? Another young Indian prodigy is tearing apart record books for fun. Vaibhav Sooryvanshi announced himself in the IPL with a first ball six last year, has just gone one notch above and has played 3 riveting knocks in this IPL 2026 where he has demolished two 5 time champs and defending champions RCB, whose only loss till now has been against the Rajasthan Royals. 

So what makes Sooryavanshi special?? The mere swing of his bat?? fearless-ness?? No pressure?? Well… maybe all of it as the batswing reminds us of a certain Yuvraj Singh and the fearless attitude reminds us of a young Virat Kohli. He is in the running for the orange cap, but more than the runs, it's the way he scores the runs that matters. The opposition bowlers are already starting to feel clueless and the fact that an India debut is already in talks remind us of a young Sachin who defied all odds. 

No one seems to have found complete answers to his explosiveness or his limitations: not even bowlers who have left far more experienced and technically stronger batters uncomfortable. There will be tougher days and tougher challenges for Sooryavanshi. Enough egos have been bruised by him already, of men who don't like to be treated with such disdain when they hold a heavy ball of leather. 

But until the comparison starts to flock all over social media… till he is pinned with the burden of the India jersey, we need to just sit back and enjoy… enjoy the sight of a boy without beards making legends scratch their beards in disbelief.