Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi completed his half-century from 23 balls against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), his slowest of Indian Premier League (IPL) career. After reaching his fifty, he removed his gloves, left the bat on the ground and then gestured ‘A’ while celebrating the milestone. After his 93-run knock that helped RR beat LSG at home and stay alive in the playoffs race, Sooryavanshi was named ‘Player of the match’. In the post-match presentation, the 15-year-old was asked the reason behind his celebration which had already gone viral on social media. Sooryavanshi hid the real meaning as he said it ‘meant nothing’ but later revealed what it meant in a dressing room video posted by the franchise.
“Sir, I don’t know. I just do something new every match. I don’t really plan it. There’s no meaning behind it. Even the celebration I did in the last match had no meaning. I just keep trying new things,” Sooryavanshi told cricketer-turned-commentator Murali Kartik.
Later, the teenager was asked the same question by RR team manager Rom Bhinder. The opener said that it was dedicated to his mother, Aarti Sooryavanshi. He didn’t want to reveal it earlier because he wants to continue celebrating milestones with the letter ‘A’ celebration.
“Ye main apni mummy ko dedicate kiya, unka naam A se hai. Main chahta nahi tha ki sabko bataun kyunki main isko continue karna chahta hoon but actually unke liye tha. (This I dedicated to my mother. Her name starts with ‘A’ so that’s why. I didn’t want this to be known to everyone because I don’t want to jinx it.)," he said.
Sooryavanshi’s stunning numbers after 93-run knock
Sooryavanshi hit 10 sixes and seven fours in his 38-ball 93. He was dismissed in the 14th over by left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan. He missed his third IPL century but reclaimed the orange cap. He jumped several spots to get to the top with 579 runs from 13 innings at a strike rate of 236.32. The only batter with more than 500 runs in the ongoing season at a strike rate over 200 is Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Abhishek Sharma (201.99).