‘Send him to a lab’: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi accused of using ‘AI chip’ in his bat

With rising success, there comes criticism. But it’s one thing to be sceptical of a person’s failures, and another to deliberately pinpoint flaws, which is what Pakistan’s cricket expert Nauman Niaz has done. Known for his controversial and over-the-top remarks, Niaz has now pointed the gun towards Indian cricket’s fastest rising batting sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Hours after the 15-year-old bludgeoned the second Indian Premier League (IPL) century of his career, Niaz accused Sooryavanshi of foul play, suggesting the youngster uses an AI chip in his bat to generate power.

“Think about it. What is this kid? Get his bat checked. Like WADA conducts dope tests, send him to some lab. He probably used an AI chip in his bat. He is unreal. What a player. I did get a feeling he was playing a tad slow. This made me think, what is this guy? When you’re 18, your body builds muscle, biceps, and triceps. This one is just 16. He was born when Virat Kohli was a world champion. He doesn’t have the power game as much as he has technique. He is a wristy player, plus, if you look at this arc, he used the full 360 degree,” Niaz said on a show called ‘SmashHit’.

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If there’s one thing Sooryavanshi is not, it’s a violator of the rules. At just 15, he has captured the imagination of world cricket, racking up one batting record after another. He was on the verge of registering the fastest-ever IPL hundred – 78 off 26 – against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, only to miss it by a whisker. However, that didn’t impact his determination, as after two low scores of 0 and 8, along with a 46 in between, Sooryavanshi completed his century off 37 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.

Sooryavanshi for Orange Cap

Sooryavanshi is giving top guns such as KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma. With 357 runs from eight matches, Sooryavanshi is currently placed second with two fifties and a hundred, followed by Rahul at third, Heinrich Klaasen at fourth, Shubman Gill at fifth and Kohli at sixth. The race for the Orange Cap has been dominated by Indians, with Klaasen the only overseas player presently in the top 10.

In just about a year, Sooryavanshi has achieved more than any budding Indian talent has in recent memory. Sooryavanshi has become the toast of the nation, scoring centuries in England, Australia, South Africa and winning the Under-19 World Cup in January this year. An India call-up is all that’s left, and the way he’s progressing, watch out for June.

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