The lockdown didn’t deter Sanjeev as he started training Vaibhav Suryavanshi on a cement pitch at home, after reading about a similar arrangement in a newspaper about how Shubman Gill’s father used to train him in Fazilka, Punjab.
Sanjeev Suryavanshi was surprised seeing children aged six or seven playing cricket in the maidans of Mumbai. Suryavanshi, who was struggling to make a living in the metropolis, once asked a coach at Oval Maidan about the right age one should start playing the game. The coach gave him a three-word reply: “Catch them young.”
The incident has proved prophetic as Suryavanshi’s son Vaibhav Suryavanshi made his first-class debut at the age of 12 against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy game at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna.
“I was a cricket tragic myself. But in Bihar, let alone cricket, there was no scope for any sport. I moved to Mumbai at the age of 19 and did a lot of jobs, such as working as a bouncer in a nightclub in Colaba, working in a Sulabh toilet or at the port. I used to spend my off days at the Oval Maidan. There young kids playing cricket would be covered by pads and helmets. A few of them were so good that one could watch them for hours. I decided it then only that be it a son or daughter, I will make my children cricketers,” Sanjeev told The Indian Express from Patna.
“Life has come full circle for me. In Mumbai, I dreamt about it, and after all these years, my son made his debut against Mumbai,” he laughs.
After spending 12 years in Mumbai, Sanjeev would return to his hometown, Samastipur in Bihar. His eldest offspring showed no interest in cricket, but the second (Vaibhav Suryavanshi ), took his first guard as a left-handed batsman when his father presented him a bat on his fifth birthday.
“The next morning I started giving him throw-downs and immediately realised he was a natural. I took him to a local cricket camp, run by Sudhakar Roy (father of former India U-19 cricketer Anukul Roy), and after watching him closely for 15 minutes, he agreed and said ‘Ye to prodigy hai,’” recalls Sanjeev.
In 2019, while enquiring about good cricket academies in Patna, he met coach Manish Ojha. Initially, Manish was not ready to coach Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
“He was so small. With pads and helmets on, he used to stumble while running between the wickets. But Sanjeevji insisted I give him personal coaching. Since they came all the way from Samastipur, which is 100km away from Patna, I agreed,” recalls Ojha.
Since then, three times a week, Sanjeev used to bring his son to Patna and the academy of Manish became a second home for the father and son.
“We used to catch an early morning bus at 5 am and by 8 am we used to be at the academy. This was our routine for three days in a week. It carried on for a year, till Covid stopped everything,” says Sanjeev.
Taking inspiration
However, the lockdown didn’t deter Sanjeev as he started training Vaibhav on a cement pitch at home, after reading about a similar arrangement in a newspaper about how Shubman Gill’s father used to train him in Fazilka, Punjab.
“I read somewhere that Gill was good against fast bowling because he used to train on a cement pitch as a child. I started doing the same with Vaibhav Suryavanshi ,” Sanjeev says.
Coach Manish too had a fair share of struggle against Bihar cricket administrators to give Vaibhav Suryavanshi a fair chance.
“In the Hayman Trophy (Inter-district tournament), he scored 620, the most in the tournament. The selectors wanted him to play in the U-16 competition. After hours of argument, they agreed to put him in the U-19 team. My point was that when he was comfortable against cricketers double his age, why not pick him for the senior team,” says Manish.
“In the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Vaibhav scored 393 runs in five innings, including a century against Haryana. Then, he was picked for the U-19 Challenger Trophy held in Assam. Although he scored only one fifty, he caught the selectors’ attention and was picked for the U-19 Quadrangular series, where he had a couple of fifty-plus scores against Bangladesh and England.”
Sanjeev, who was there in Vijayawada, shares how Wasim Jaffer praised his son’s batting after his strokeful 75 against Bangladesh.
“Wasim sir was with the Bangladesh U-19 team. He was impressed with Vaibhav’s shot selection. Even VVS Laxman sir told me that he is ready, but they want to see his development in the next couple of years. Such compliments gave us extra motivation,” says Sanjeev.
The one thing that worried Sanjeev was how his son would deal with traveling alone for away Ranji Trophy matches.
“During the quadrangular series, when I came back home from Samastipur, I received a call from Manish sir that Vaibhav was crying on the phone. I had to go back. He has always had me since the day he picked up the bat, but my biggest fear is how he will deal with this situation. I am trying to prepare him for it. Let’s see how it unfolds,” the father says.