West Indies great compares young IPL sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi to 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, recalls shocking incident

Rajasthan Royals' 14-year-old prodigy, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, took the cricketing world by storm on April 28 (Monday) when he became the youngest player ever to score a century in T20 cricket against the Gujarat Titans. The cricketing legends were quick to shower their admiration on this young talent, clearly impressed by what the 14-year-old accomplished. Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop shared that Suryavanshi's innings reminded him of a young Sachin Tendulkar, who left a lasting impression on him 35 years ago.

In a chat with ESPN Cricinfo, Bishop reminisced about a match he played for Derbyshire against India in Chesterfield. With the required run rate climbing, he thought he could outsmart the young 'kid' with some back-of-the-length deliveries, assuming he wouldn’t be able to connect. But Sachin stunned Bishop, hitting the ball for a six over deep mid-wicket, sending it straight into a tree and leaving him in disbelief.

"I was playing for Derbyshire, and we were playing against India at Chesterfield. Never forgot it. We batted first, and we must have made... don't know the exact numbers. Chesterfield bounces. You get in there, and it bounces. We were in the game, and this little...he was this high (gesturing with his hand), and he came into bat, faced a couple of balls, and I thought, okay, we've got this sewn up. The asking rate is a little challenging towards the end of the game, and this little kid cannot hit me anywhere. I ran up, and I made the mistake of bowling a little back of a length, thinking I'd talk him up, and he hit me into a tree, way over deep mid-wicket, as far as I've ever been hit before. Sachin Tendulkar, age 17, shocked the living daylights out of an Ian Bishop in his pomp," Bishop recalled.

Ian Bishop pointed out that Vaibhav Suryavanshi hit a century at a younger age than Sachin did back in the day, facing off against some top-notch bowlers. He mentioned that both Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj shared the same admiration for Suryavanshi that Bishop had for Sachin all those years ago.

"This kid here is even younger. He's 14 years old, taking on world-class bowlers. That must have shocked the living daylights out of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and all the rest," the West Indian added.

Vaibhav put on an incredible display of power-hitting on Monday, taking on some seasoned international bowlers. He launched Ishant Sharma for three sixes and two fours in a single over, then took spinner Washington Sundar to task with two sixes and a four, achieving the fastest half-century of the 2025 IPL in just 17 balls. He didn't stop there; he raced to 94 by smashing Afghanistan's fast bowler Karim Janat for three sixes and three fours, before bringing up his century against Rashid Khan.

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