‘Centuries will keep happening, focus is on trophy’: Sooryavanshi after match-winning 97 against SRH in eliminator

MULLANPUR: Following his sensational 97 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the eliminator, 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals (RR) prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gave a glimpse into his batting mindset and emphasised that “centuries will keep happening” and the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy remains in focus.

Sooryavanshi’s generational IPL season continued as he produced perhaps his best performance so far, single-handedly toppling SRH with a 29-ball 97, including five fours and 12 sixes. He went past West Indies icon Chris Gayle for most sixes in an IPL season with 65 sixes and also went past West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell and Australia opener David Warner in other records.

Speaking after the match in the post-match presentation, Sooryavanshi said that after winning, the team wants to take the positive intent forward, move on and try reaching the finals by beating the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier two. The teenager’s batting philosophy revolves around not thinking too much, but rather focusing on how he can face the opposition bowlers on a certain wicket and on grounds with different dimensions.

“I do think a little bit, but not too much. I just try to play the game I’m in and not overthink. But if I feel there’s something I need to work on, then I look at that. I just think about who the bowlers are in the opposition team, how I can face them on this wicket, how big the boundaries are, just these kinds of things. I just try to stay positive with my intent. When I do that, the bowlers stay under pressure. So I try to continue that and dominate the game,” he said.

Speaking on missing out on a century, he said, “My only focus was on contributing as much as I could because centuries will keep happening, but right now the focus is on how to win the trophy. If I feel I am having trouble somewhere, I work on that (on his short ball dismissal). I do not think about what the opposition is planning; that’s their plan. I focus on what my plan is, and I just try to play normal cricket.”

With this loss, SRH has been eliminated from the tournament, while Rajasthan Royals will battle Gujarat Titans in Qualifier two on Friday for a spot in the final against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

After GT was put to bat first by SRH, Sooryavanshi (97 in 29 balls, with five fours and 12 sixes) and Dhruv Jurel (50 in 21 balls, with five fours and three sixes) played magnificent knocks as RR marched to 243/8 in 20 overs. During the chase, SRH sunk to 57/4 in the powerplay itself, despite a brief counter-attack from Ishan Kishan (33 in 11 balls, with three fours and three sixes).

Archer (3/58) and Burger (2/26) were central to RR’s success with the ball in the powerplay, skittling out SRH for just 196 in 19.2 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy (38 in 20 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Salil Arora (35 in 20 balls, with two fours and two sixes) put up a fight in the later stages with a 56-run sixth-wicket partnership, but Ravindra Jadeja (2/21) dimmed whatever little hope was left by removing both of them.

Sooryavanshi was named as the ‘Player of the Match’. (ANI)