Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Told To Avoid International Cricket: 'Prepare For Exams & Play Gully Cricket'

Amid constant chatter around his potential India debut, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been advised to enjoy his childhood before "it's too late".

Even as the cricket world cannot get enough of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, going against the popular opinion, a former South African cricketer has advised the batting prodigy to return to school and enjoy his childhood before making the leap into international cricket.

Daryll Cullinan, who played 70 Tests and 138 ODIs for South Africa, doesn’t think that the 15-year-old should be thrown into the deep end of it when he’s still growing as a person and especially at a time when his every move is closely followed, commented upon and potentially scrutinised by not only media but also by those “people who answer to no one."

“What we are seeing in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is not simply a talented boy playing above his age. It is something cricket has genuinely never had to deal with before – namely, a child placed at the centre of one of the most commercially powerful, globally visible and socially amplified sporting environments ever created: Indian cricket and the IPL," Cullinan wrote in a column for Cricinfo.

“Cricket has seen prodigies. It has seen young players arrive early and carry labels they did not ask for. But it has not seen this precise combination before, of innocence, extraordinary gift, and a social media world that has abolished nearly every distance between a child and the opinions of hundreds of millions. Sooryavanshi is 15, living a life that is not proceeding at the ordinary pace of growing up. This needs careful consideration before it is too late," he added.

Citing the examples of other child prodigies who tasted success at a very young age before their careers took a turn for the worst, Cullinan feels Sooryavanshi’s career needs to be carefully planned and managed to avoid a similar fate.

“In my view he should be at home preparing for his exams, playing gully cricket with his mates, and being a young boy while he still has the chance. That does not mean ignoring his talent. It means understanding that the talent will only be truly served if the person carrying it is allowed to grow whole," Cullinan wrote.

Cullinan feels that while Sachin Tendulkar, who also arrived at the international stage at a young age, was “filtered by people who carried at least some professional responsibility."

However, in Sooryavanshi’s case, Cullinan notes, that “mediation no longer exists".

And his advice for the teenager, who recently became the youngest Indian to get an international call-up, is to turn to Tendulkar for guidance.

“It is my sincere hope that he will turn to Tendulkar for guidance. He could not be more lucky than to have a mentor in a fellow Indian cricketer who has been through it all and seen it all, and who will have his best interests at heart," he concluded.

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