IPL 2025: Celebrate 14-year-old kid Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s IPL manic ton with a candy, not champagne

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LUMINOUS. That giant commercial logo written right across the front of Vaibhav Suryavanshi's IPL jersey for team Rajasthan Royals caught the eye on Monday night. Luminous was something RR had been paid for.

What Vaibhav produced was not just luminous for fans, it was preposterous, smashing a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans to script an against-all-odds victory in the IPL 2025 fiesta.

The heat inside the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur was felt in more than one way. Then came Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Like a hailstorm whistling through the words to leave behind its trail of destruction, the 14-year-old kid from Bihar treated the global audience to something manic.

Or magical. Had the father of cricketing writing, Neville Cardus, been alive and watched this innings, he would have wanted to pause, written an arresting intro and then prose on such a mind-blowing masterpiece knock.

Forget the fact, RR are out the Playoff race. This one contest in the IPL 2025 against GT was all about a boy who showed to the world what batting means and what had to be seen. If you missed it, don't worry, there are videos and highlights. And, yet, this knock will be remembered for long as it knocked the hell out of even someone as seasoned a fast bowler as Ishant Sharma.

If creativity is a phrase used to describe work in progress, it can be in many contests, many areas. At the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, where pink was the obvious colour, Vaibhav exploded. Before anyone thinks this has a war-like connotation, a kid eclipsing even feats produced by a certain Chris Gayle in the IPL will now become secondary. In 2013, when Chris produced one of the most ruthless knocks in the IPL, a 30-ball century, people said it was carnage for the bowlers.

What Vaibhav has done is no less painful for the GT bowlers as he essayed shots where the hand-eye coordination, ballet-like balance on his feet and using the bat speed with his upper body was like someone having a swing at nets. What does one marvel and what does one treat as a routine shot.

The sixes he produced had a silken swagger, be it the shot planted into the stands over long off, or when he pivots and comes up with a leg-side six which probably speeds like the gold old Bofors Howitzer which was used in war. All of this came in Vaibhav's 101 off 38 balls coming at a strike rate of 265.79. In case fan's necks were strained catching the geometry of shots and angles produced by Vaibhav, it was courtesy seven fours and 11 sixes.

This was Vaibhav's assault, nay war, simply unstoppable. To say he was a show-stopper would be putting it mildly. He had master opener Yashavi Jaiswal at the other end as opening partner. This was just Vaibhav's third IPL match, after he had been wrapped in cotton wool through the first part of the IPL 2025 season.

When Vaibhav made his debut against Lucknow Super Giants earlier, he had offered a glimpse of his game. Light on his feet, supple wrists and a game sense of the highest order. And yet, when he did not produce a big knock, Vaibhav was seen wiping tears inside his helmet visor. That was before.

On Monday night, he was like a man possessed, where Hindi commentators could used phrases like "maataa aa gayee' which is used for someone possessed. Well, forget the hyperbole, forget the jargon, a boy who was just a year old when Gayle smashed that ton has shown at the age of 14, he is 'God's Own Child.'

You can call him a genius, for at such a young age, nobody creates this kind of manic presence. He was ruthless and at the same time not the one who was being unkind to the bowlers as a sadist. Vaibhav was only essaying shots which he had been taught and has mastered at the nets.

Vaibhav had played Ranji Trophy before, he had played many balls at nets and in simulation for RR. A coach like Rahul Dravid will not throw Vaibhav Suryavanshi into IPL games without assessing how strong he is (physically and mentally), and if he can cope with the rigours of IPL.

There is concern what does one do with Vaibhav, overexpose him or treat him like a 'Kohinoor.' This is going to be a challenge not just for RR, his team owners who bought him at a price of Rs 1.1 crores. Today, Vaibhav and money mean nothing. The kid is real 14, and if someone says his age is manipulated, test him for alcohol and substance abuse.

For Vaibhav to destroy bowlers like Ishant, Mohammed Siraj and a few more in Jaipur, it was generational talent and a genius mindset. How will the BCCI think-tank plan his career, as he can play just one under-19 World Cup. Or will the BCCI bosses ensure he can be unleashed at the ICC T20 World Cup next year.

Do anything with him, other not compare him with former greats. A Picasso masterpiece cannot be replicated nor can a fake MF Hussain artwork fetch billions at a Sotheby's auction,

As a coach friend rightly pointed out to this writer, Vaibhav is going to inspire kids in the 12-18 age group category. They will also want to bat like this, fearless and with minimal flaws. Above all, none of these kids fear anything, not even centre-stage in the IPL. Come on, buy this kid Vaibhav a candy, he is too young to be toasted with champagne.