Game after game, match after match and inning upon inning, young Vaibhav Suryavanshi knows how to impact a contest in the Indian Premier League. Now, doesn’t he? For someone who debuted at the tender ripe age of just 13 to having hit the fastest ever 500 runs scored by any batter - irrespective of team, age, batting position or country of origin- Vaibhav Suryavanshi, truthfully speaking, hasn’t taken all that long to emerge as a box office draw for his beloved Rajasthan Royals. He’s already become the holder of the Orange Cap, a prized possession for whom such illustrious names in the game at the moment such as KL Rahul and none other than Virat Kohli are in the hunt. How about that? Moreover, he’s also lorded with true power in terms of becoming the batter to have hit the most number of sixes in the current edition of the Tata IPL.

How about that sort of powerful impact 

For someone who is still so young, far from getting out of his teen years and yet, making an impact you’d consider worthy from those who have been seasoned champions at playing the IPL, the dynamic top order batter is creating big waves already and rubbing his shoulders with the best in the business.

Last evening too, he hit a captivating and every energetic knock in the 40s

Besides easily outscoring none other than the talented Yashasvi Jaiswal at the other end, Suryavanshi’s heroics, not for the first time, led his RR side to flying start especially in a run chase. He came down heavily against Arshdeep Singh who does know a thing or two about it taking PowerPlay wickets.

But having said that, given his brave and daring batting Suryavanshi has earned rich praise from none other than noted former Indian fast bowler Mohit Sharma.

And Mohit Sharma has said something exceedingly appreciative in the context of Suryavanshi

Let us first get to the popular quote by Sharma on Suryavanshi:

There are two such players… before this, there was one player, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for whom, no matter which of the ten franchises, which of the ten grounds you go to, you will see one name, the same aura, the same love for him everywhere,” Sharma said on Cricbuzz, before he’d add, “ And now, the second person I've seen like this is one who, across all ten franchises, whichever ground you walk into, the commentators standing there, the cameramen, the players from the opposition side, they all try to have a conversation with him.”

Great but heavy comparison

While surely someone like Vaibhav Suryavanshi does deserve all the plaudits coming his way, what must also be kept in mind is that his is still a largely developing career. One that is in its nascent stages. Comparisons, while they spread a captivating fragrance of sorts, also lead to downfalls because we perhaps out of emotions elevate the status of a cricketer to a stratospheric level where he may not necessarily belong.

Suryavanshi is a daring cricketer who backs himself to go after bowlers. 

Truth be told, while he must back himself to do just that, he should also be mindful of not getting into the trap of such effusive praise. Because such praise, though genuine on the part of another cricketer, carries enough weight or expectation to mentally keep the receiver under pressure. And that’s never a good place to be at.