Beckenham, Jul 16 (PTI) With his gluttonous appetite for runs, wunderkind Vaibhav Suryavanshi is making his presence felt in England. He has been signing autographs, obliging requests for selfies, and even making fans drive long hours to get a glimpse of him.
Having become a household name in India following his record-breaking hundred in the IPL, the 14-year-old from Bihar is now attracting eyeballs on the U-19 tour of UK.
He has been consciously kept away from the media glare but his achievements on the field have not gone unnoticed in this part of the world.
Those who are part of a rather large Indian diaspora in the UK and the locals had their eyes trained on the left-hander during the first Youth Test in the sleepy town of Beckenham.
“He is my role model. I like his aggressive style of batting,” said a local kid from Beckenham after getting an autograph from Suryavanshi at the Kent County Cricket Ground on the final day of the red-ball series opener.
Ten days ago, Suryavanshi had hammered a 78-ball 143 for India U-19 in a 50 over game against England U-19 in Worcester, extending his reputation as a clean hitter of the ball.
England U-19 left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert, who was part of the white-ball game in Worcester and also the Youth Test here, was surprised by the Indian’s aggressive approach across formats.
“I bowled to him (Vaibhav Suryavanshi) throughout the ODI series. And then coming off the Test series, you’d think maybe he’d pull back a bit, but he’s kept going. But yeah, he’s a really good player,” said Albert after day four.
Suryanvanshi can do without the constant attention but one London-based couple of Indian origin travelled two hours from the British capital to see the flamboyant opener in flesh and blood.
“I came only for Suryavanshi. I hope I can get a picture with him,” said Sanjeev, who has a government job in the UK.
His wish for a selfie was not fulfilled as play extended to 7.30 pm local time with both teams pushing for a result. For someone who has a long way to go, Suryavanshi will need to find a way to deal with this global attention. PTI BS AH AH
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