CHENNAI: What’s an ideal Sunday morning for Chennaiites? A nice cup of coffee with your legs up on the sofa watching a film? For more than 10,000 people, it meant watching the 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashing bowlers all around the MA Chidambaram Stadium on an otherwise lovely Sunday (September 6) morning.
Two years on from his historic century when he recorded the fastest hundred by an Indian in U-19 Tests, Sooryavanshi returned to the same ground.
This time to play the Duleep Trophy final where the East Zone took on the South Zone. And this time, he is a superstar in making.
Though he is playing for the rivals, the interest that he piqued among the famously knowledgeable spectators here was visible: there was a serpentine line outside the stadium, with thousands flowing inside in search of a seat in the three open stands – C, D, and E.
By the time East Zone opener Abhimanyu Easwaran ran across for a single off the fifth ball of the first over, bringing Sooryavanshi to strike, the crowd had already picked its spot, most of them gathering next to the caged fences with their mobile phones out recording the teenager take strike against seasoned campaigner Mohammed Siraj.
They began revving their vocal chords like a Formula 1 car before the green flag was waved. When Sooryavanshi took strike, the noise hit the crescendo.
As the second over came to an end, many of the spectators were chanting his name in unison as if trying to manifest a boundary.
It wasn’t just the crowd that came prepared; the South Zone had as many as five fielders on the boundary in the early part of the game to counter the threat.
Nothing really helped. Sending the crowd berserk, Sooryavanshi put one away off Siraj’s bowling.
He didn’t spare MD Nidheesh either, as he rose to the ball and the occasion, with two delightful boundaries in the space of three deliveries.
By the time Siraj returned, the Bihar-born batter had already made up his mind that he was going to entertain the crowd with some thorough punches.
The experienced pacer tried to go full, only to find the ball go farther and land right next to the sight screen.
Even with Chennai’s sweltering morning heat, the crowd kept its energy levels up with screeches of ‘Vaibhav, Vaibhav’ amid other indescribable hoots and cheers.
But before he could take it up another notch, CV Milind put an end to the show, and the left-hander walked back for a 37-ball 44 but not before giving the broadcasters a highlight package reel worthy of trending on social media.
As the day’s proceedings came to an end, during which East batters put up a spectacular display, the crowd chanted only one name and wanted the autograph of one player.
As hundreds gathered next to the fence chanting and screaming his name, Sooryavanshi, obliged them – this time with autographs.
For the 10,000 or so fans, it was a Sunday that they would narrate for the rest of their lives; and for Sooryavanshi, the stint with stardom is just getting started.