Behind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's Rise, The Emotional Story Of Sacrifice
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's incredible rise in Indian cricket, at the age of 15, hasn't been without sacrifices.
In the past, fans used to flood stadiums just to get a glimpse of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, and MS Dhoni. It is the same for current stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Another name that is joining this list is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but he is doing so at the tender age of 15. Sooryavanshi has already broken some of the finest records in world cricket, and has become the youngest to be named to the India senior side, surpassing Tendulkar. The feeling in the Sooryavanshi family is such that the euphoria of his rapid success has healed the wounds of the sacrifice his father and mother made to help him fulfil his cricketing dream.
A report has claimed that Vaibhav's family had to sell their ancestral land in order to fund his training. Selling land, especially ancestral land, is not an easy call. But Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's father, Sanjeev, knew he had to do it if his son's dreams were to be fuelled.
"Ab sab cheez usse upar aa gaya hai. Sapna sach ho gaya hai. Ab zameen, paisa, rupiya ka koi mahatva nahi hai. Jo samman mil raha hai, desh-videsh mein naam ho raha hai, usse hum bahut khush hain. [Now everything has gone beyond that. The dream has come true. Land and money don't matter anymore. The respect and recognition that he is getting in India and abroad make us very happy]," Sanjeev told the Times of India.
Vaibhav, who earns Rs 1.10 crore annually through his Indian Premier League (IPL) contract with the Rajasthan Royals, is on his way up to the pinnacle of Indian cricket. The admiration he has started to receive from all across the world is being rated much higher by his father, Sanjeev, than whatever sacrifice he had to make in the past.
"Koi regret nahi hai. Vaibhav jo bhi haasil kar raha hai, woh sab cheezon se bahut upar hai [I have no regrets. Whatever Vaibhav is achieving is far greater than anything else]," he said. "Bachcha bachpan se bahut mehnat kiya hai. Isi ke liye mehnat kiya tha ki desh ke liye khele. Aaj use woh saubhagya mila hai [The boy has worked very hard since childhood. He has worked with the dream of playing for the country. Today, he has got that opportunity]," he said.
"Bahut khush hain. Poora parivar khush hai, hamara gaon khush hai. Poora desh khush hai. Humare liye ye sapne jaisa hai [We are very happy. The entire family is happy. Our village is happy. The whole country is happy. For us, it feels like a dream]," an elated Sanjeev said. "When the news came, Vaibhav was practising in Sri Lanka. He called and said, 'Papa, I just came to know about the selection. I'll talk to you later.' Everyone there was congratulating him," he said.
Vaibhav's parents are set to fly to the United Kingdom to see their son fulfil the lifelong dream of representing the Indian national team. The 15-year-old has been picked for the T20Is against Ireland and England. Sanjeev is focussed on capturing the moment despite the chatter around records the teenage prodigy can break once he makes his India debut.
"Yes, we will go to the UK. We have received the documents from the BCCI. We are going to the UK," Sanjeev told the paper. "Records may be broken, records may be made, but this is just the start. We will pray to God that he continues to play well and reaches that level," he said.