Mark Butcher compared Vaibhav Suryavanshi to Sir Garfield Sobers: Vaibhav Suryavanshi has recently attracted much attention after his explosive innings of 175 runs off 80 balls in the Under-19 World Cup final against England. His explosive innings has surprised everyone in the cricket world. Recently, former England captain Jos Buttler has praised him in a podcast show.
Now, another former England cricketer, Mark Butcher has dropped his comments about the 14-year-old batsman. Mark Butcher has compared Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s bat swing with that of former West Indies all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers. The former English captain recalled a flashback of Sir Gary Sobers while batting in the Under-19 World Cup final.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi compared to the West Indies legend
Speaking to Wisden Cricket, Butcher said, “The first thing that popped into my mind was Gary Sobers. The violence in the swing of the bat, the timing and the precision of the contact. The arm speed, the way he uses his feet in the ground, the way the bat literally swings around until it slaps him in the middle of the back. That was pure Sobers.”
He asked fans to watch highlights of Sobers hitting sixes at Swansea, comparing Suryavanshi’s bat swing with Sobers’ bat swing in the match against England. Sobers is considered to be the greatest all-rounder of all time. To be compared at the age of 14 is really a big thing for a young talent.
Suryavanshi has six-hitting talent like Gary Sobers
“I would urge people of a different generation, who don’t have that image of Sir Gary in their minds, to go and watch the video of him hitting six sixes off Malcolm Nash at Swansea,” Butcher said.
He concluded, “I swear to God it looks exactly like that. The way he uses his legs to swing the bat and the way he swings the bat until it disappears and slaps him right in the middle of his spine, it’s amazing to watch. It’s just pure Sobers.”
Vaibhav Suryavanshi is India’s next superstar
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s explosive innings in the match included 15 fours and the same number of sixes. When he was at the crease, India’s predicted score looked to be 500+ as the Under-19 team scored 411 runs in the final and won the game by 100 runs. He was chosen player of the match.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi was also awarded the Player of the Tournament award for his exceptional performance in the tournament, scoring 439 runs in seven innings at an average of 62.71, three fifties and one century.
Suryavanshi made his name by hitting a six on the first ball of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL). He is the youngest batsman to score a century in the T20 format, which came for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in the IPL. This was also the second fastest century, which he accomplished in just 35 balls. The southpaw will be one of the finest upcoming stars for Indian cricket.
Also read: Jos Buttler dismisses Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill and calls the young Indian player the best cricketer ever