Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Loses On Body Language And Bad Behaviour Count!

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi presented himself as sort of a “bad boy” in the tri-series match against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at Dambulla last week. The 15-year-old has, until the confrontation with the home team, rarely or not been criticised for misconduct in the field. He has built a reputation for fearless batting and hitting sixes in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 19 for the Rajasthan Royals. He has turned out to be the show pony of the IPL and the poster boy of Indian cricket in the Twenty20 format. Hence his deportment, nay turning slightly physical, in the first tri-series the ‘A’ teams of Sri Lanka, India and Afghanistan has come as a bit of a surprise. The discerning are disappointed and feel that the authorities should crack the whip sooner than later. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar did not mince words saying that, as a disciplinary measure, Sooryavanshi should have been dropped for the match against Afghanistan ‘A’. The left -hander who helped India win the Under-19 World Cup and was selected for the Men in Blue Twenty 20 Indian team for the tour of Ireland and England and the Asian Games may have to lose 50% of his match fee and skipper Tilak Varma, 30 % of his match fee. The ball is in the BCCI court now! Sooryavanshi has been around for three years and someone in Bihar, Rajasthan Royals or the Indian teams should have told him about the preamble of the game that says that “Cricket is a gentleman’s” game. What his legion of followers in the world look forward to from him is to understand the niceties of the game and behave appropriately, on and off the field. The BCCI should take the lead on this count.