Sangakkara doesn’t deal in exaggeration. He’ll tell you that the first time he saw Sooryavanshi at work in the nets, the bat made a sound like a gun going off. That is the kind of memory that is hard to shake, and it is on the mind of the selectors as the pressure mounts after a hard-fought defeat.
You don’t need a stat sheet to get to the heart of Sangakkara’s tale. It comes down to how a player reacts. Take Jofra Archer, for instance, who was in full flow one day and had to stop and have a chuckle when a 14-year-old showed him up. You could read the temperament in that as easily as the timing.
The moment that changed perceptions
It all started with a couple of weeks in Guwahati while with the Rajasthan Royals. There was a side net there, not the most comfortable of spots, and most batters would give it a miss. Not Sooryavanshi. He put his hand up and went in.
Archer and Sandeep Sharma were on it with fresh balls. Sangakkara, still fired up by it as he put it on Friday night during the T20I from Belfast, will have it that every time the ball was met cleanly, it was like a gunshot. The kid made short work of both of them.
From net heroics to selection debate
What he told Rahul Dravid then and there was plain: he is good to go. The former Sri Lankan, who is now with the Royals, has little doubt about the boy’s poise and power. 'Kid's just incredible‘ is how he put it.
India has been a bit more reticent. They were in the 19th over on Friday at Stormont, 34 runs behind, having been bowled out for 148 in a 183 chase. Sooryavanshi was not in the mix, and that kind of result puts a finer point on things before the last game of the series on Sunday.
Will India unleash him next?
It is a tougher call for the management. The batting has not been up to snuff when it has counted, but then you have Sangakkara vouching for the other option. If he is left out this weekend, his chance to open up may well come in the five T20Is in England in a month’s time.
Why Sangakkara’s praise matters
A word from a pro means something, but context is everything. This is a man who has been at the top of the game, and a franchise head, telling India’s coach that a teenager can be let in right now because of the way he has handled top-tier pace with new leather.
Then you have the circumstances. A tight, unyielding side net. The older hands are elsewhere. But here is Sooryavanshi, making a meal of the best heat they can put on. That is a habit you don’t see often; it tells you he is ready before the scores do.
The numbers behind the buzz
Well, the figures are in now. He made a List A fifty in 11 balls recently – even for a format like that, it is an anomaly. It is the same story as in Guwahati: very little backlift, a lot of bat speed, and no nonsense.
Here is where we stand after a week in India and a chat with Sangakkara:
– A fortnight in Guwahati put the youngster’s nerve on display
– New balls from Archer and Sandeep were no match for him
– Even Archer had to laugh and put aside his spell
– India were run out of steam for 148 in the 19th over
– A 34-run drubbing at Stormont was the price of it
– An 11-ball List A half-century to put in the record book
What to watch now
So the question for the think-tank is whether to fall back on experience or to put their faith in form and a lack of fear. The argument for the young one is no longer a hunch; it is backed by a veteran’s word and a string of innings that are only getting better.
You can hear the echo of that first net session in this week’s selection room. And if Sooryavanshi is given the nod any time soon, we will be hearing the same sort of noise, only with a much larger crowd to witness it.
