Vaibhav Suryavanshi Receives Grandest Praise Yet, Compared To This West Indies Legend: "Exactly The Same"

Vaibhav Suryavanshi already has the world at his feet at the age of just 14, and he may have just received the biggest compliment yet. Just days after smashing an incredible 175 off just 80 balls to lead India to the U19 World Cup 2026 title over England, Suryavanshi has been compared to one of cricket's greatest ever. Former England cricketer Mark Butcher likened Suryavanshi's style to legendary West Indies all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers, highlighting the similarity in their batting.

"The first thing that flashed in my head was Gary Sobers. The violence in the bat swing, the timing and the purity of the contact. The hand speed, the way that he uses his legs on the ground. The way that the bat literally follows through all the way around until it slaps him in the middle of his bat is pure Sobers," said Butcher, speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast.

Sobers is widely regarded as one of cricket's greatest all-rounders. In a career spanning over 20 years, Sobers smashed 26 centuries and averaged nearly 58 in Test cricket.

To justify his comparison, Butcher took the example of Sobers' historic six sixes in an over for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan, when he became the first batter in professional cricket history to do so.

"I would urge people from a different generation who don't have that picture of Sir Gary Sobers in their mind's eye to seek out the video of him hitting the six sixes off Malcolm Nash. And just watch. And I swear to God; it looks exactly the same. He (Suryavanshi) is just astonishing to watch," Butcher explained.

14-year-old Suryavanshi's breathtaking knock saw India win the U19 World Cup final by 100 runs. He took home both the 'Player of the Match' and the 'Player of the Series' awards.

Topics mentioned in this article

Vaibhav Suryavanshi Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Garfield St Aubrun Sobers India Cricket Team West Indies Cricket Team India U19 Mark Butcher Cricket