BCCI, RR urged to 'protect' Suryavanshi after dream IPL debut, ensure he follows Tendulkar's footsteps and not Kambli

Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been grabbing headlines ever since he became the youngest player in the history of the Indian Premier League, with Rajasthan Royals having acquired his services for Rs 1.10 crore in the mega auction . The left-handed opening batter from Bihar would go on to get his IPL career off to a dream start, hitting his first very first delivery in the world’s biggest T20 league for a six and breaking multiple records with a 35-ball century in just his third appearance.

Suryavanshi has exhibited signs of a superstar in the making, dominating bowlers who have been playing in the IPL since before he was born, that too at an age where most kids would be too busy with homework or planning their summer holidays.

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Sudden fame and money, however, can lead to a player’s downfall if he or she doesn’t remain grounded and loses focus on the field. Indian cricket has had several such examples and former cricketers such as ex-Australia captain Greg Chappell are hoping Suryavanshi doesn’t go down that route.

Chappell urges BCCI and RR to ‘guide and nurture’ Suryavanshi

Chappell, who had coached the Indian team for a couple of years between 2005 and 2007, has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take care of the 14-year-old cricket prodigy and ensure he charts a path similar to that of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and not Vinod Kambli.

Both Tendulkar and Kambli were marked as future superstars as kids after extraordinary performances in the Mumbai school circuit. However, while one would go on to become one of the greatest batters of all time, the other lost track after a dream start and struggled to retain his place in the Indian team, failing to live up to his potential in the end.

Chappell also cited the example of another Mumbai batter in Prithvi Shaw, who had been compared to Tendulkar after shining in youth cricket and would go on to score a century on Test debut and cement his place at the top of the Delhi Capitals batting order. Not only has the 25-year-old lost his place in Team India, he also went unsold in the IPL mega auction in November.

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“Sachin Tendulkar succeeded as a teenager not simply due to talent but because of a solid support system - a stoic temperament, a wise coach, a family that protected him from the circus. On the other hand, Vinod Kambli, equally talented and perhaps more flamboyant, struggled to balance fame and discipline. His fall was as dramatic as his rise. Prithvi Shaw is another wunderkind who has fallen but may yet find a way back to the pinnacle,” Australian batting legend Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

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Suryavanshi has become the talk of the town since his century against Gujarat Titans, which helped the Royals thrash Gujarat Titans at home. The southpaw has been one of the few bright spots in what has been an underwhelming season for RR, and Chappell hopes the BCCI as well as Rajasthan Royals “guide and nurture” the teenager, and not just benefit from the marketing perspective.

“These stories don’t question the ability of youth, but they challenge the wisdom of how that ability is nurtured - or exploited.”

“It is incumbent on the cricketing ecosystem - the BCCI, the franchises, mentors, and the media - to protect him. Talent can’t be bubble-wrapped, but it can be provided a buffer. It must be guided, not glorified; nurtured, not just marketed,” he added.