At the start of Day 2 of the semifinal between Central Zone and East Zone, there was a sense of anticipation in the air. It is true that clouds were on the horizon at Ground 1 of the Centre of Excellence. Yet, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the crease, in an imaginary sense, it felt as if he would brighten up the skies with his scintillating stroke-play.
And that is exactly what happened as he blazed his way to a sparkling 92 off just 81 balls. The bat lift went up, then down and swirled in the air like a coconut tree before the rapier-like willow produced shots of magnificence.
However, looking back, Vaibhav could have been dismissed in the first over itself. Aryan Juyal, the wicketkeeper, was standing a tad too far back, and the outside edge off Yash Thakur fell just in front of him. Incidentally, off the very next ball, the southpaw charged down the deck and tried to smash Yash over the covers.
Soon, Vaibhav crunched a straight drive and then a sumptuous lofted drive into the downtown territories. The keynote of his batting was his willingness to move across towards the off side when Yash shortened his length from over or around the wicket. Occasionally, he also showed the maker’s name to Yash, Arshad Khan and Co.
Meanwhile, Central had another opportunity when Saransh Jain deceived the left-hander in the air, only for Yash Rathod at point to drop a sitter. Vaibhav was even prepared to walk back to the pavilion, perhaps certain that the easy catch would be taken.
Vaibhav then thumped Harsh Dubey, Aryan Pandey and Jain for sixes. In between, he was prepared to take singles too.
Although he missed out on scoring his maiden first-class century, the innings exemplified not just Vaibhav’s burgeoning potential but also his mental aptitude to tweak his game according to the bowler and the conditions.
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