Guwahati, April 11 Although he is only 15 years old, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already been batting with a clarity and composure that belies his age, said Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a seamer for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Sooryavanshi smashed a stunning 78 off just 26 balls, before Dhruv Jurel anchored the chase with an unbeaten 81, as Rajasthan Royals defeated the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, by six wickets and two overs to spare, extending their unbeaten run to four matches this season.
"The way he is hitting shots. He is not simply trying to hit the ball; he is hitting proper shots. For a 15-year-old, he is very mature. So yes, I think we should give him credit for the way he is batting, and he is batting really well. So he deserves all the credit," Bhuvneshwar Kumar said at the post-match press conference on Friday.
Despite Sooryavanshi's aggressive innings, which included eight fours and seven sixes, Bhuvneshwar maintained that RCB never felt completely outplayed.
"It's a T20 game, I mean. Yes, he is young, and he is batting very well. He is batting maturely, but we never felt that somebody was dominating us. If a 15-year-old can bat like this, even if he is 25 or 15, I think it's part of the T20 game.
"Yes, we had plans, we also dropped a catch, but that happens in cricket. So we couldn't execute what we wanted to do, and I think it is a part of T20, so we are not worried about that much," said Bhuvneshwar.
"We tried what we could do. I know that from the outside, the game looks a little slower compared to how it looks inside. Vaibhav played good shots. So I think we felt that we couldn't do anything different."
In their pursuit of a competitive total, RCB brought in all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer in place of the originally intended leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, a move that ultimately hampered their bowling flexibility.
"It is difficult to use spinners in the powerplay, and we only had one left-arm spinner, as we used an Impact instead of Suyash.
"So we didn't have an off-spinner, and for a left-arm bowler to face a left-arm batter, it makes sense. We did what we could do, and he batted really well."
RCB will next take on Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Sunday.