Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The young monster who wakes up to big occasions |: Cricket News:

“Pressure is a privilege,” said Virat Kohli during IPL 2026. It’s one of those lines that sounds good on a poster or in your social media post caption but is much harder to follow. It sounds simple enough, but pressure has a way of changing players. This makes them play it safe, makes them worry about the results, about the results and forget about the process. They may forget the game that brought them this far. But every now and then, one player comes along who seems to enjoy those moments more than the rest. The bigger the game, the bigger the crowd, the bigger the stakes, the more alive he looks.On Sunday in Dambulla, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was exactly that player. India A play Sri Lanka A in the final of the one-day Tri-Nation series. The 15-year-old entered the game after four quiet outings. Earlier in the week, he was also at the center of a nasty on-field battle against the same opposition, with fingers quickly pointing at him. For many young cricketers, this is a reason to back off caution. Not for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Instead, Sooryavanshi walked out and did what he has done most of the past few months. He wasn’t consumed by the big occasion, but owned it, as he always did. After Sri Lanka A chose to bowl, Sooryavanshi immediately made his intentions known, hitting Mohamed Shiraz for a boundary on the very first ball he faced. What followed was an innings that changed the game and once again reinforced the growing belief around him. the bigger the occasion, the more dangerous he is.By the time Sri Lanka realized what was happening, Mohamed Shiraz gone for 26 runs in an over, the scoreboard was racing. He reached his fifty in just 11 balls, breaking the 20-year-old List A record. The previous record belonged to Sri Lanka’s Kaushalya Weeratne, who reached a half-century in 12 balls for Ragama Cricket Club. Sooryavanshi continued, threatening another record as he raced towards a century before finally falling for 94 from just 29 deliveries.He tore through the Sri Lankan attack with a mixture of power and assurance, and it was an innings that was almost inevitable as it became the pattern rather than the exception.

“Pressure is a privilege”Every time the stakes got higher this year, Sooryavanshi found a way to leave his mark. In February, with the Under-19 World Cup title on the line against England in Harare, he made 175 off 80 balls to power India to victory. A few months ago, Rajasthan Royals needed something special IPL: 2026 Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and he responded with a 29-ball 97. Now, in a tri-series final against Sri Lanka A, he added a 29-ball 94 to that growing collection.The numbers themselves are impressive, but what stands out even more is the consistency of the approach. Sportspersons are always advised to play according to the occasion, to minimize the risk when the pressure increases. Sooryavanshi seems to have chosen a different route. Whether it’s the World Cup final, the IPL knockout or Sunday’s tri-series final in Dambulla, he believes in the same game that got him here in the first place. He trusted the attack and his wrists.That approach also brings failures. There it is. The four low scores before the final are proof of that. There is risk in that approach. Aggressive batters live closer to the rim than most. But what makes Sooryavanshi different so far is that failures don’t seem to change his aggressive ways. Four poor outings didn’t make him retreat into his shell. The controversy against Sri Lanka A did not faze him. If anything, the ending shows that the pressure seems to have sharpened his instincts instead of dulling them.