‘Father Left His Work, Mother Slept For 3 Hours’: Vaibhav Suryavanshi Reveals How Parents Fuelled His Cricket Dream

When Vaibhav Suryavanshi stepped onto the field for his IPL debut, he had already made history as the tournament’s youngest player ever. He then amazed everyone by hitting fast bowler Shardul Thakur for a six on the very first ball of his IPL career. He made a thrilling 34 off 20 in his debut innings, which was only an indication of what was to follow.

On Monday, Vaibhav made history while competing in his third IPL match. He hit a fiery century in just 35 balls, setting the record for the fastest IPL century by an Indian. Achieving this at just 14 years old made him the youngest player to hit the milestone in T20 cricket. Reveling in the achievement of his first IPL century, Vaibhav remembered the sacrifices made by his father Sanjeev and mother Aarti to keep him focused on realizing his cricket aspirations.

“I am what I am because of my parents. My mother, for the sake of my practice schedule, wakes up at 2 in the morning after going to sleep at 11, sleeping barely three hours. She then prepares meals for me. My father left his work to support me. My elder brother is taking care of his work and the household is running with great difficulty. But papa is backing me,” Vaibhav said in an interview with IPL.

“…god ensures that those who work hard never fail. The results that we are seeing and the success that I am achieving is because of my parents,” he added.

For Vaibhav, hitting the very first ball of his career was business as usual.

“It was a normal thing for me. I have played Under-19 for India and also at the domestic level, where I have hit first ball sixes. I was not under pressure to play out the first 10 balls. In my mind I was clear that if the ball comes in my radar, I will hit it,” Vaibhav said.

“They always tell me that I can win it for the team. There is no pressure of what will happen next because they motivate me,” he added.