‘What MS Dhoni did for Jharkhand, Vaibhav Suryavanshi is doing it for Bihar’ | Cricket News

On a chilly January night time in 2024, Aushtosh Aman noticed Vaibhav Suryavanshi shadow training in a resort gallery in Patna. Ashutosh, who was the captain of Bihar, enquired, “Chotu, khana khaya re (Have you eaten?).” A shocked 12-year-old fumbled and replied, “Man nahi kar raha bhaiaya (I do not really feel like consuming).” Ashutosh instructed him to put on a jacket and cap and took him out for dinner. On the dinner desk, a confused Vaibhav requested, “Bhaiya, kuch samajh nahi aa raha, mutton aur chawal order kar dijiye (Brother, I am not able to understand the menu, just order mutton and rice for me).”
The subsequent day, Vaibhav made his Ranji Trophy debut in opposition to Mumbai. On Day 2, when Vaibhav was padding as much as open, he was struggling to lace his footwear. Ashutosh once more got here to his rescue and requested, “Laces baandhne nahi aate? (Don’t you know how to lace your shoes?).” Vaibhav simply nodded.

“Those four days I was very nervous. When I saw him at the nets, I wanted him to play. Even the selectors and Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) officials wanted to blood him. I was worried. What if he got hurt? How would he deal with the pressure? He scored 19 in the first innings against Mumbai, and I nonchalantly said in the dressing room, ‘Bihar ko pehla cricketing superstar mil gaya (Bihar has got its first cricketing superstar),” recollects Aman.

Ashutosh was proper about his prophecy. On Monday, Suryavanshi smashed the quickest ton by an Indian within the IPL, and made Rahul Dravid overlook that he was on a wheelchair. The whole Sawai Mansingh Stadium chanted the identify of the 14-year-old.
“Gazab khela (Exceptional knock),” was Ashutosh’s crisp reply on the knock.
The Dhoni of Bihar
In 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar, a Bhojpuri track titled “Ab Alag bhail Jharkhand, khau shakarkand (Now Jharkhand is separate, eat sweet potato),” grew to become an instantaneous hit in salons, in buses, and even at weddings. The track was a taunt that with Jharkhand taking all of the mineral sources and industries, Bihar was solely left with candy potato.

A wave of migration started as thousands and thousands left the state for higher alternatives. Even Ashutosh, like the various who went looking out for higher schooling and jobs, left Bihar final yr for a training gig with Services. Cricketing infrastructure was, and nonetheless is, a large number however the sight of Vaibhav hitting these towering sixes on Monday night time made Ashutosh, a left-arm spinner, very emotional.
“There was no cricket in Bihar, and those who had tried their hand at cricket were left unemployed. Let’s not even talk about the infrastructure,” says Aman.
Who’s that IPL participant?
“When I saw Vaibhav hitting those sixes yesterday, I got emotional. He will be for Bihar what MS Dhoni is for Jharkhand. Vaibhav has put Bihar on the cricketing landscape. People now know about Samastipur. One thing that is in Bihari DNA is that we don’t fear because we have got nothing to lose. He started his IPL career by hitting a six off Shardul Thakur and then completed his century with a six off Rashid Khan,” stated Aman, who has performed 34 first-class matches.

The checklist of cricketers from Bihar shifting commerce elsewhere would not finish there. Ishan Kishan went to Ranchi from Patna as a result of his father is a businessman. Pacer Mukesh Kumar moved to Kolkata in 2012 to assist his father’s taxi enterprise, which was struggling losses. He used to play cricket in Kolkata’s maidan for Rs 400-500 earlier than he was noticed by Ranadeb Bose, former Bengal pacer and bowling coach.
Another Indian pacer, Akash Deep, had an identical story. He went to Kolkata to develop into a truck driver and ended up enjoying cricket. He has now opened a cricket academy in Sasaram. “The sole reason for building that academy was so that no kid should face the hurdles I had to endure when I was young. They don’t have to leave Bihar to go to other states to get good facilities. I will provide them with world-class infrastructure,” he advised TimesofIndia.com earlier than the beginning of the IPL.

More Vaibhavs within the pipeline
The BCA president, Rakesh Tiwary, who noticed the knock from the stands on Monday, could not imagine what he had witnessed.
“The crowd was chanting ‘Vaibhav! Vaibhav!’, and it is still giving me goosebumps. It was an experience of a lifetime for sure,” stated Tiwari.
Tiwari is assured that extra Vaibhavs will come by means of from the state.

“You will see more talented cricketers coming out of Bihar now. There is no dearth of talent.”
“We are working on the infrastructure. The BCA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government, which grants BCA a 30-year lease on the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, which sets the stage for the redevelopment of the stadium, poised to transform it into a state-of-the-art, international-standard sporting complex. There is another stadium that we are building in Rajgir. There are more smaller centers across the state that are in the pipeline,” he stated.