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By:

Waleed Hussain

4 March 2025 at 2:34:30 pm

The Taming of the Teen Tornado

In the high-octane circus of the Indian Premier League, few phenomena have exploded onto the scene quite like Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The Bihar prodigy, still a teenager at 15, burst into global consciousness in IPL 2025 as the youngest debutant and centurion in T20 history. His 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans wasn’t just a knock; it was a declaration of intent from a player who treats boundaries as birthrights and bowlers as mere target practice. With a career strike rate hovering...

The Taming of the Teen Tornado

In the high-octane circus of the Indian Premier League, few phenomena have exploded onto the scene quite like Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The Bihar prodigy, still a teenager at 15, burst into global consciousness in IPL 2025 as the youngest debutant and centurion in T20 history. His 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans wasn’t just a knock; it was a declaration of intent from a player who treats boundaries as birthrights and bowlers as mere target practice. With a career strike rate hovering around 225 across 17 matches and a penchant for clearing ropes with frightening regularity—61 sixes already—Suryavanshi represented the ultimate nightmare for opposition captains. Yet, as IPL 2026 unfolds, a fascinating trend has emerged: teams appear to have devised blueprints to neutralize him before he enters that devastating “out of control” mode. This isn’t about diminishing his talent. Suryavanshi remains a generational prospect, capable of single-handedly tilting games. But cricket at the elite level is a game of adaptations, and the league’s collective brain trust has spent the off-season and early 2026 matches poring over footage, identifying triggers, and deploying targeted strategies. The result? More frequent low scores, golden ducks, and frustrated walks back to the pavilion, even as his overall numbers stay imposing. The primary weapon has been early aggression against his powerplay instincts. Suryavanshi is an opener who thrives on momentum, often launching into sixes from ball one. Captains have responded by setting aggressive fields and using pace variations immediately. Deepak Chahar’s masterclass in 2025, where he dismissed the youngster for a duck with a clever plan, highlighted the value of swing and seam movement early on. By denying width and tempting him with balls that move away or hold the line, bowlers force Suryavanshi to manufacture shots, disrupting his timing. In one notable 2026 outing against Lucknow Super Giants, he managed just 8 off 11, mistiming a length ball outside off after the top order collapsed. Mohsin Khan’s dismissal of him—inducing a toe-ender to cover—showcased how disciplined lines can exploit slight technical lapses when the youngster tries to force the pace. Spin has emerged as another potent tool. While Suryavanshi’s hand-eye coordination makes him dangerous against slower balls, teams are using mystery spinners and left-arm orthodox options to vary trajectories and exploit any impatience. His dot-ball percentage, though low, reveals moments where he hunts boundaries excessively. Bowlers who can land the ball in the “corridor of uncertainty” or use the carrom ball effectively have succeeded in building pressure, forcing errors. Praful Hinge’s golden duck dismissal in 2026 offered a “secret recipe” that others are emulating: tight channels combined with clever changes in pace. Data analytics and opposition scouting have played a silent but decisive role. Teams now track Suryavanshi’s triggers—his front-foot dominance against pace, preference for leg-side heaves when set, and occasional vulnerability to short balls if the seam position is right. By preparing specific match-ups (right-arm seamers angling across him, or spinners from over the wicket targeting leg stump), captains are minimizing the window for him to settle. This proactive approach contrasts with the reactive panic of 2025, when many teams simply fed him width and watched the ball sail into the stands. Critics might argue this “taming” reflects negatively on the bowler-friendly conditions or defensive captaincy. But that’s missing the point. IPL cricket evolves rapidly, and Suryavanshi’s emergence has accelerated that evolution. Young talents force the ecosystem to innovate. Remember how early Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers prompted fielding restrictions and bowling tweaks? Suryavanshi is in that league. His explosive starts demand perfection from the outset; one loose over, and the game can slip away. Teams that execute plans—short spells of high-intensity bowling, smart rotations, and mental warfare—have found success in curtailing him to 20-30 ball cameos rather than match-defining marathons. This cat-and-mouse dynamic benefits Indian cricket immensely. For Suryavanshi, these challenges are crucibles for growth. Already battle-hardened from U19 successes and Ranji exposure at an absurdly young age, he is learning to rotate strike, play percentage cricket when needed, and temper his aggression without losing intent. His emotional reactions to dismissals—tears on debut, visible frustration—reveal a fierce competitor who hates failure. That fire, channeled correctly, will make him unstoppable. Coaches like Rahul Dravid at Rajasthan Royals are undoubtedly working on mindset and technique to counter these plans. For franchises, the lesson is clear: superstar management requires homework. Blindly respecting reputations leads to carnage; targeted execution yields results. We’ve seen this with other phenoms—teams eventually found ways to quiet even the most destructive hitters through variations, intelligence, and execution. Suryavanshi’s case proves no one is immune, no matter how prodigious. Yet, one senses this is temporary. The teenager’s talent is raw and boundless. As he decodes these strategies, his game will expand—perhaps better leaving balls in the channel, improved footwork against spin, or devastating counters to short-pitched stuff. By IPL 2027 or beyond, he might laugh at these early “solutions.” In the end, the IPL’s beauty lies in this relentless arms race. Teams have indeed figured out ways to dismiss Vaibhav Suryavanshi before he runs amok—for now. It forces excellence from everyone: bowlers must be precise, captains astute, and the batter must evolve. Cricket wins. Fans win. And a 15-year-old superstar, tempered by these battles, will emerge even more formidable. The tornado hasn’t been stopped; it’s merely being studied so the next gust can be even more thrilling. (The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)

Rattled, Thackeray says ‘do not rely on lies’

Updated: Mar 21, 2025

Thackeray

Mumbai: Shaken by the sudden spotlight on the Disha S. Salian death case, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray appeared at a loss for words to react to the development, but said ‘lies’ should not be relied upon.


In a relief of sorts, a ruling ally Shiv Sena MLA came out in open support of the beleaguered Thackerays and the ex-CM expressed his gratitude.


The five-year-old incident concerning the unexplained death of Bollywood celeb manager Disha rocked the Maharashtra Legislature afresh with the ruling MahaYuti and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi allies hurling accusations at each other.


“There is no substance in these allegations… The matter is in the court…let them say it there,” dared Thackeray, who served as the MVA CM from November 2019-June 2022 when the case had blown up.


“I am confident that the case would boomerang on them in the court,” Thackeray declared dismissively, with Aditya beside him.


Thackeray wondered “why the issue keeps cropping up only during the Legislature sessions”, and said there is nothing new in this.


“Every time the Legislature comes into session, this matter is raised… Why did it not come in the past couple of sessions… I am surprised. It keeps coming up but there is nothing new to it. Whatever Satish Salian’s lawyer claims, he should say it in the court,” said Thackeray sharply.


“Many generations of our family are in front of the public. We have no connection with this case at all. But if politics is being twisted and taken in the wrong direction, everyone will suffer. When you rely on lies, it will also backfire on you,” warned Thackeray.


During a brief interaction with the media earlier in the day, Aditya Thackeray said that “since the matter has gone to the court, I shall also submit whatever I have to say before the court”.


“For the past five years they have been trying to defame me. But they were exposed on all counts… Now, the matter has gone in the court… I will respond there,” said Aaditya, a former minister in the MVA regime.


“It is clear… The Aurangzeb issue has backfired on them… To come out of it, the Disha Salian issue has been raked up now… There is some kind of ‘power’ working behind the petitioner,” contended SS (UBT) Chief Spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut.


Training guns on the Mahayuti government, Thackeray said that who is responsible for the farmers’ pyres burning continuously (suicides), and their families, women, daughters and sisters are suffering.


There have been many killings like that of Beed Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, his children are also demanding justice, asking: “What is the government doing to stop all this?”


Against the badgering from the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, a ruling Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad threw his weight behind the Thackeray father-son duo and Uddhav even thanked him publicly for the gesture.


Sparking a sensation, Satish Salian has filed a plea in the Bombay High Court on Monday, seeking a fresh CBI probe into the death of his daughter, Disha, 28, who died under mystery circumstances in Malad on June 8, 2020.


Five days later, on June 14, one of her celeb clients, Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging at his Bandra rented home.


Salians were initially ‘satisfied’ with cops

It may be recalled that a few years ago, the Salian couple had said that they were satisfied with the police and other agencies’ probe plus pleaded publicly that the media and politicians should stop hounding or defaming their family. In March 2022, Satish and his wife Vasanti had written to the President of India, complaining that the (then) Union Minister Narayan Rane and his son Nitesh Rane (now, Maharashtra Minister), are ‘liars and virtually driving them (the Salians) to suicide”.


Drawing parallels with the Nirbhaya rape-cum-murder case of Delhi over a decade ago, the Salians pointed out that till now, that victim’s identity has not been revealed, but “Rane is blatantly taking my daughter’s name” repeatedly and saying that she was raped. Displaying signs of desperation, the Salians asked “whether the law of the land is not applicable to the Union Minister”, and pointed out how even after registering a (police) complaint against them, the “liars” Rane duo did not stop maligning the family’s name.


The Salians had made the same appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, (then) Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, BJP’s (then) Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Bombay High Court Chief Justice, “to stop a few politicians from maligning our daughter’s name”.

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