Former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke has truly been amazed to witness the hype built around Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rise in international cricket, that too at the tender age of 15.
He mentioned that he had witnessed so much anticipation around a youngster back in his childhood when the legendary Sachin Tendulkar set foot in Australia for the first time in his career.
Sachin Tendulkar, to this date, remains one of the most iconic names in the world of cricket. Be it any list of records with the bat, one name is most common across the Test and ODI formats of the game, and that’s the legendary Indian cricketer. He also remains the world’s greatest ever batter, with 35000+ runs amassed in a career of over two decades.
A career as long as Sachin’s not only needs an early debut but also promising form over a span of two decades, remarkable consistency, prowess in performance, and a considerable amount of fitness. Now, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi moving close to an international debut at the age of 15, fans have drawn a comparison with the legendary Indian batter.
Michael Clarke backs out on the comparison between Sachin Tendulkar and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke has been left awestruck by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s sheer ball-striking ability and the amount of anticipation built around the player’s future in international cricket.
Sooryavanshi has been backed by several greats of the game and has been declared suitable to make a debut in senior men’s international cricket, despite his young age of 15. Witnessing this, Clarke recalled that he had last witnessed such hype when a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar first set foot on Australian soil and put on a masterclass.
“Well, I haven’t seen this before. I haven’t seen a 15-year-old doing this,” said Clarke. However, he also added that the comparison between young Sooryavanshi and Sachin Tendulkar, who is an institution in himself, is unreasonable.
“You know, I think back, and again, you can’t compare. Two very different players. But I remember Sachin Tendulkar coming to Australia as a 17-year-old and, mate, that hype was real. I think he was 16. Was 16. And that hype was earned. That legacy is there for everyone to see,” the 45-year-old said.
Former Australian great suggests Sooryavanshi is not yet ready for red-ball action.
Though Clarke truly looked convinced of the immense talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi possesses, he did not hesitate to claim that he was more suited to T20 cricket and might not yet be ready to walk into the longest format of the game.
“I don’t think anybody’s saying he can walk into Test cricket and be, well, I hope nobody’s saying he can walk into Test cricket and be one of the greats tomorrow,” he said.
“I think the way he plays is very much, at the moment, in what I’m watching, is very much suited to this format,” Clarke observed. The former Australian then quickly made it clear that performances at any level at this age put him ahead of the race against many.
“Now, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get picked at some stage. If he keeps scoring runs, no matter what format, he’ll play T20 cricket for India, one-day cricket for India, and hopefully Test cricket for India,” he added.
“And then the challenge is going to be to adapt,” Clarke reflects on the biggest challenge for the RR youngster.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has amassed 404 runs across just 10 matches in this season of the IPL and has also scored his second IPL hundred. Sooryavanshi’s whopping strike rate of 237 gives him a sheer upper hand over other players.
However, Clarke pointed out that international cricket would force him to adjust to different conditions across the globe and would be a massive learning experience for young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as he would have to adapt to the tempo of all three formats of the game.
And then the challenge is going to be to adapt to three formats and adapt to different conditions around the world,” Clarke concluded.
