Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: The boy monster who wakes up on the big occasion | Cricket News

Virat Kohli said during IPL 2026: “Pressure is a privilege.” This quote sounds good on a poster or social media post title, but it is much harder to stick to it. It sounds simple, but pressure can change players. It allows them to play it safe and make them worry about outcomes, outcomes and forget about the process. It makes them forget about the game that got them to this point. Every now and then, though, a player comes along who seems to enjoy these moments more than anyone else. The bigger the match, the bigger the crowd, the higher the stakes, the more dynamic he seems to be.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi looked exactly like that player in Dambulla on Sunday. India A faced Sri Lanka A in the final of the three-nation one-day series. The 15-year-old entered the game after four quiet spells. He was also involved in an ugly on-field brawl with the same opponent earlier this week and fingers were quickly pointed at him. For many young cricketers, this may be a reason to proceed with caution. Not suitable for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Instead, Sooryavanshi went out and did what he has been doing increasingly over the past few months. Rather than being consumed by the momentous occasion, he owned it, as he often did. After Sri Lanka A chose to bowl, Suryavanshi immediately announced his intentions, smashing Mohamed Shiraz on the first ball he faced. The next play changed the game and once again reinforced the growing belief around him: the bigger the occasion, the more dangerous he was.By the time Sri Lanka realized what was happening, Mohammad Shiraz had disappeared for 26 runs and the scoreboard was accelerating. He scored 50 in just 11 balls, breaking a 20-year-old Group A record. The previous record was held by Sri Lanka’s Kaushalya Weeratne, who scored 12 goals for Ragama Cricket Club and achieved a half-century. Sooryavanshi went on to threaten another record as he rushed towards a century but eventually fell to 94 off 29 deliveriesHe tore apart the Sri Lankan attack with a mixture of power and certainty, an innings that almost seemed inevitable as this was becoming the pattern rather than the exception.

“Pressure is a privilege”This year, whenever the stakes were raised, Sooryavanshi found a way to make his mark. In February, he scored 175 off 80 balls in India’s Under-19 World Cup title-winning clash against England in Harare. After a few months, Rajasthan Royals needed something special intense pulsed light He scored 97 off 29 balls in the 2026 knockout match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Now, in the three-Test series final against Sri Lanka A, he added a 29-ball 94 in the growing series.The numbers themselves are impressive, but even more striking is the consistency of the methodology. Athletes are generally advised to play according to the situation to minimize risk when pressure rises. Sooryavanshi seems to have chosen a different route. Be it the World Cup final, the IPL knockout rounds or Sunday’s tri-series final in Dambulla, he believes in the game that got him here. He believes in attacking and his finesse.This approach can also lead to failure. Already have it. Four low scores before the final were proof of that. There are risks with this approach. Attacking hitters are closer to the edge than most hitters. But what’s different about Sooryavanshi right now is that the setbacks don’t seem to change his aggressive attitude. Four bad outings didn’t make him retreat into his shell. The controversy over Sri A has not daunted him. If anything, the final showed that pressure seemed to enhance his instincts rather than weaken them.