Suryavanshi shines on the seaside in first English outing

Even by the fantastical standards of his own unreality, Vaibhav Suryavanshi must think English cricket is odd.

For one, it was School’s Day at a slate-grey Hove, so the crowd largely comprised shrieking hordes of primary school children to whom Suryavanshi’s age was not so much unimpressive as deeply uninteresting. The playlist rattled through Frozen and Moana, both a tad beneath his 14 years, but not by much.

Then there’s the cricket. England U19s suffered to a first-innings 174, dragging out 42.2 overs of this first Youth ODI against India thanks to a fluent, flashy 42 from Isaac Mohammed – Moeen Ali’s nephew and fellow big-hitting leftie – and a stoic anchoring half-century from Rocky Flintoff. In his first competitive match on English soil, Suryavanshi wore No 18, synonymous in India with Virat Kohli, which could be coincidence, but probably wasn’t.

If defending his first ball was a grave disappointment, nothing else was. His adaptation was instant and exacting. Across the ensuing seventeen balls, three fours and five sixes were dispatched to all corners and onto the nearby Palmeira Road. Flintoff faced 90 balls for his 56. Suryavanshi needed 71 fewer balls to smash 48, before chipping the first ball he faced off Surrey’s left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert to point. Why did everyone else make this look so hard?

But you don’t have to watch him for long to realise batting is the only thing Suryavanshi does quickly. Away from the crease he’s almost transcendentally unbothered, effortlessly lackadaisical as only a teenager can be. In the field, he spends the vast majority of his time with arms akimbo, sunglasses on, slumped shoulders and stone-face.

Between overs he stretches almost compulsively – your pigeon poses, your warrior poses, your seated spinal twists, etc. Fifteen minutes before the second innings, he trundled onto the pitch to face a few throwdowns (which I’m thrilled to report he did with a delightfully high elbow) before retreating to a bench, where he sat – in full pads and helmet – staring into the middle distance.

A gaggle of schoolchildren screamed for his autograph. A sizable man in high-viz was told to delete clandestine photos by three stewards-cum-bodyguards. He stared. The only time he moved was to rest his head on his bat handle, still staring. The easy platitude is that he needs to get used to this, but perhaps he already has. He displayed both the calm and flexibility of a yogi.

At 338,000 and counting, the match livestream was the most-viewed video on Sussex CC’s YouTube ever, by over 200,000. Sussex’s 13-year-old channel grew its subscriber base by 7% in the space of a day. Indian sport hangs and thrives on idols, the IPL the modern pinnacle of sporting fanaticism. The celebrations after Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL last month killed 11 people and hospitalised almost 50. In 2024, broadcaster Jiostar claimed total viewership touched a billion.

Suryavanshi has already met Narendra Modi and definitely has the most Instagram followers at his school (2.1m). Ordained the future of the most popular sport in the most populous nation, he’s been defined before he’s had time or opportunity to define himself. There isn’t even consensus on what to call him – his own social media says Sooryavanshi, the wider accepted anglicism is Suryavanshi and there are even variations like Suravanshii. Most just go for “the kid”, “that 14-year-old”, or “Boss Baby”, after Chris Gayle’s “Universe Boss”.

Asking his preference seems a good place to start, but the BCCI are protecting him from all sides. This raises the question: what’s the responsible way to handle and cover this thing? Should we be doing it at all? What happens when the most interesting athlete in sport is also 14? Where’s the line, and has he already slapped his bat through it?

The current prognosis is years to focus on age-groups and the IPL, that the most dramatic ascent is already over. But how many Tests would India have to lose this summer before the temptation becomes too great? In his only youth Test, against Australia U19 in Chennai, he hit a 58-ball century. He’ll only be down the road.

As what could be a 20-year cricketing saga on English soil begins, perhaps the greatest fear is that more like him are coming, a supergeneration the natural consequence of India’s domination of funding and resource and eyeballs and human capital. But even if he stands alone in his natural mastery, you get the sense that could be more than enough. His unreality could shape, and become, our reality.

Photograph by MB Media/Getty Images