Published: Apr 29, 2025, 02:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 29, 2025, 02:26 PM (IST)
14-year-old Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi played one of the finest knocks in the history of IPL on Monday in his side’s clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT). The left-hand batter smashed 101 runs from just 38 deliveries to massively help RR in chasing down the target of 210 in just 15.5 overs.
This was nothing short of a record-breaking knock as Suryavanshi became the youngest batter to score a century in T20 cricket and also the fastest Indian centurion in IPL.
South Africa legend Shaun Pollock was so impressed with the youngster’s batting skills that he labelled his knock as the ‘greatest performance’ in IPL history.
“For me, this is the greatest individual performance in the IPL, ever. It’s got to be. For a 14-year-old to go out there and smash around and get a hundred off 35 balls, that has to be the greatest performance in IPL history,” Pollock said on Cricbuzz.
“I thought corporate punishments for kids were done and dusted. He has come out as a schoolboy and given them some corporate punishment,” Pollock added.
Suryavanshi’s terrific hundred helped the Rajasthan-based franchise in becoming the fastest side in IPL to chase down a target of over 200 runs. The 14-year-old showed no mercy to veteran pacer Ishant Sharma, slamming him for 28 runs in an over before hitting Afghanistan seamer Karim Janat for 30 runs. His wicket was eventually taken by GT’s Prasidh Krishna.
Legendary Australia cricketer Adam Gilchrist was also left amazed by Suryavanshi’s blistering century and praised his brilliant shot selection and his range of shots.
“I was really impressed with the calmness and shot-selection. He goes aggressively on the leg-side, that’s a big strength of his. But by the end of the innings, I was impressed that he has a greater array of shots than just a slog over mid-wicket,” Gilchrist said.
“To the spinners, getting down and getting creative to low-down lap over backward square-leg. To the quicks, he opened up a bit of an off-side game and held position. That told me he had settled into a rhythm, which allowed his natural game to come through,” Gilchrist added.
