Vaibhav Sooryavanshi captains East Zone, hands team advantage with terrific DRS calls
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could be developing quite a reputation as a DRS specialist. The 15-year-old has already made two successful calls in the Duleep Trophy final, with the latest helping Mohammed Shami dismiss Smaran Ravichandran on Day 3, after he had earlier played a key role in Ricky Bhui’s dismissal.
South Zone were already under pressure after East Zone posted a mammoth 708 in their first innings. When Mukesh Kumar found an edge from Bhui in the sixth over, wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra and Sooryavanshi were convinced they had heard something despite the umpire not giving it out. Sooryavanshi repeatedly urged Ishan Kishan to review, with the stump microphone picking up the youngster saying, “Take it, take it.”
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Kishan trusted his vice-captain and went upstairs. UltraEdge showed a clear spike as the ball passed the bat, confirming the nick and sending Bhui back. It was a sharp piece of judgement from Sooryavanshi, but his next DRS intervention did not produce the same result. When Devdutt Padikkal was struck on the pads by Md Kounain Quraishi, the teenager again convinced Kishan to review, only for ball-tracking to show the delivery was missing the stumps. That was the only unsuccessful call involving Sooryavanshi in the final.
Later, with Ishan off the field, Sooryavanshi was leading East Zone when Shami returned to the attack. Shami beat Ravichandran’s outside edge twice before Kushagra appealed after another delivery was pushed at away from the body. The wicketkeeper was certain there had been contact and Sooryavanshi agreed to review. UltraEdge again came to his aid, showing a clear nick and confirming Ravichandran’s dismissal for 23. Sooryavanshi immediately celebrated with Shami after another successful intervention.
SOORYAVSNHI: THE DRS SPECIALIST
The latest two calls have added to something Sooryavanshi had already shown in the semi-final against Central Zone. He had taken over as stand-in captain after Kishan left the field with a finger injury and successfully reviewed a caught-behind decision involving Aryan Juyal.
That means the youngster has now been involved in three successful DRS calls across the semi-final and final, with just one unsuccessful review in the title clash. More importantly, he has shown the confidence to back his judgement even when the initial decision has gone against East Zone.
Sooryavanshi’s contribution has not been limited to his decision-making. He made a brisk 44 off 37 balls in East Zone’s mammoth first innings, having earlier smashed 92 in the semi-final. He has now scored 184 runs in four innings in the tournament at an average of 46.
For a 15-year-old who entered the tournament as Ishan Kishan’s deputy, Sooryavanshi is steadily showing that his influence can extend well beyond his batting. His DRS record in particular is becoming an intriguing subplot to East Zone’s dominant run in the Duleep Trophy final.
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