15-year-old wins IPL player of tournament; Australians Josh Hazlewood, Tim David help Royal Challengers Bangalore
Updated ,first published
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 15-year-old child prodigy who was too young to drive the car he won amid a slew of trophies, sat in the Ahmedabad stands with cricket kingpin Jay Shah, while Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and Tim David helped Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bangalore win back-to-back IPL trophies.
Suryavanshi, who hit 72 sixes in the tournament, became the first player to win the emerging player award, tournament MVP and leading run-getter orange cap in the same season after hitting 776 runs at a strike rate of better than 237.
He watched part of the final with Shah, who is now officially the president of the International Cricket Council but is still the most powerful person in terms of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
His prize for being the tournament’s “super striker” (the player with the highest strike rate) was a car – a Tata Sierra SUV – which Suryavanshi was too young to drive at the age of three.
Considering that the IPL attracts the best T20 players in the world, the amount of awards it has won is staggering.
“It feels good, but there is pressure as I am doing interviews. This is a proud moment and I will try to do well next season as well,” Suryanvashi said at the presentation. “I try to back up my game and if the ball is there to be kicked, I’ll do anything for it and try to play that way.
“How to play the pressure game, how to change myself in every match, you cannot play every match in one mode, you have to read the game situation and play according to the needs of the team. These are the things I have learned from this season.”
A day after Australia’s ODI team was defeated in Rawalpindi, RCB won the title for the second time in as many seasons in front of a packed crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
For Hazlewood, the tournament was timely proof that he could stay on the park for the entire series; but there will be plenty of talk about whether he and other Australian Test players will take part in next year’s IPL, which is among the major Test series against India and England.
“I think the franchise has been put together beautifully,” Hazlewood said. “I think it’s a nice relaxed atmosphere to perform and try to play your best cricket, not just the players but also the support staff.
“It’s difficult to build that culture so quickly in an environment where the team changes every three years, but it feels like we’ve got it now. Obviously winning helps, but the team feels like a pretty tight unit and we’re always playing for someone other than ourselves. Three-peat, yeah, I don’t see why not.”
In an IPL dominated by quick scoring and represented by Suryavanshi, the bounce track in Ahmedabad provided something a little more suited to Hazlewood’s skills.
His early dismissal of Gujarat Titans’ ace and Indian skipper Shubman Gill was ultimately instrumental as they en route to figures of 2-37 from four overs. Hazlewood formed a useful unit with the disciplined seaming and batting of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who won two wickets of his own.
Their contributions meant that Gujarat, who hit just three sixes in the innings, could only muster a score of 8-155 – Suryavanshi had made a habit of hitting so many in one over.
Kohli then had an excellent target to chase, but it must be said that part of RCB’s recent dominance has been down to more team-oriented batting by all players. This includes Kohli taking more risks than before.
This target was much less tiring but Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer made sure it would not get into difficult odds by storming to an opening stand of 62 inside five overs.
An early onslaught of boundaries meant that, after a stuttering 4-91, David was able to play within himself in a 41-run stand with Kohli, putting the result beyond doubt.
“It was magnificent,” Kohli said afterwards. “I mean, we had to wait so long and then you know… to have a group of guys that you feel when you step on the floor, you don’t have to be the one to step up every time.
“There is a man behind you, around you, who can win cricket matches for you. We have a lot of man of the match awards spread across the group.”
While the final was held hours after the ICC board meeting, Shah and Suryavanshi were joined in the hospitality boxes by Cricket Australia president Mike Baird and his England counterpart Richard Thompson.
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Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of many books on cricket.Connect with: X.
