Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may not yet be a guaranteed name in India’s Playing XI, but at just 15, the teenager has already grown into a phenomenon that extends far beyond Indian cricket.In barely two years, Sooryavanshi has turned himself into a national sensation and, increasingly, a global sporting attraction. Among 15-year-old athletes, only Lamine Yamal can claim a larger following, largely because of football’s worldwide reach. In cricket, however, Sooryavanshi’s popularity stands in a league of its own.The teenager has already shared the dressing room with several members of India’s T20 World Cup-winning side, while his rapid rise has inevitably raised questions about competition for places.Sanju Samson could be viewed as Sooryavanshi’s most direct competition, but Dhruv Jurel, who has captained the youngster and is himself making a mark in Test cricket, sees little point in comparing the two.For Jurel, comparisons only make sense when players possess similar skill sets. Sooryavanshi, in his view, is operating at a level that is difficult to even comprehend.“He deserves all the praise. What he does is something you can’t even dream of. A 15-year-old kid smashing everybody. It’s just WOW. Honestly, there’s no jealousy. There’s no comparison either. What is there to compare? It’s beyond comprehension. Comparisons happen when you think you can do something similar. He is too good. An unbelievable kid. We watch in awe, and he makes life easier for us as batters. In the Powerplay, he keeps smashing, and watching him, you feel that if we get a chance, we should also start hitting, because he just keeps smashing,” Jurel told Aakash Chopra on the former India opener’s podcast.Jurel is also enjoying a prolific run himself. He recently ended the series as India’s second-highest run-scorer behind Devdutt Padikkal and third-highest overall, accumulating 173 runs.His tally included one fifty and a hundred, Initially, Jurel was fighting for a spot with Pant in the Test playing XI, but later the management chose to play him as a specialist batter.
