V for Vaibhav, C for Century

AND just like that life has taken a dramatic turn for young Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

- GOMESH S

The oodles of baby fat are still visible on his face. The toys had given way to the English Willow, helmet, pads and gloves a long time ago. The batting boots are real. The game is more than real. Dreams can definitely be real too. The experience? Well, it is always going to be surreal.

On April 29, the world woke up to a new teen cricketing prodigy from India. Heaps of praise started flowing in from all parts of the cricketing community. ESPN SportsCenter, a flagship American daily sports news television program, featured Suryavanshi's feat in the top six news of the day. In a night, the 14-year-old from Bihar's Tajpur town of Samastipur district became a global newsmaker.

Until the IPL mega auction, he was a teen sensation who had made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar at the age of 12 and then went on to play for India U19. A young boy from Bihar can hit the ball hard and in this day and age, this big-hitting has turned into a prodigious art form. On the bidding table, he was swooped by Royals for ₹1.1 crore, making him a crorepati as well. On April 19, he made his IPL debut and he hit the first ball in the IPL for a six. A few days later, he rewrote the definition of hitting with a second-fastest 100 off 35 balls in IPL with 11 sixes all over the stadium.