IPL Pulse: Age no bar

Good morning,

If you wake up with a headache and a teenager is to blame, it's usually because of their temper tantrums and not because they continually invoke an existential crisis by challenging the realms of possibility. When Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is mentioned, you already know we're talking about the latter.

Yep, it happened again. While the SRH bowlers had a headache with no cure, everyone else at Mullanpur and elsewhere had their jaws on the floor. Just in case your jaw is still in place, here's Cricketlineguruji Pulse, your two-minute scan of the IPL-verse.

Last night in five lines

SRH laid out a buffet where a kid ate for free

The wunderkind fell one shot away from making the IPL's fastest century

Jurel sustained the assault but SRH clawed their way back in the last five overs

Archer sent Abhishek Sharma packing second ball

SRH even managed to exceed the asking rate at the halfway stage but lost too many wickets

Oh, that happened

The novelty was only barely (if at all) beginning to wear off, not because what the boy-wonder did was any less extraordinary but because it had started to become almost routine. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi saw that jaws were slowly beginning to shut and he promptly made them drop again. He was on 97 off 28, gunning for the fastest ever IPL hundred, when he spooned one down third man's throat. He might not have broken this record (for now) but there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind about it being one of the best Playoffs knocks ever.

Pulse Awards

The too-enchanted-to-move award goes to Yashasvi Jaiswal who made a pedestrian run-a-ball 29 while watching Sooryavanshi score 97 off the same number of deliveries.

The doing-it-the-hard-way award goes to Ravindra Jadeja for his relentless running between the wickets after the boundaries dried up.

The short-film award goes to Ishan Kishan whose action (33 off 11) was cut short just after the trailer.

The Powerplay-powerhouse award goes to Jofra Archer for adding three more wickets to his impressive hoard of Powerplay scalps.

The cherry-on-top award goes to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for fittingly snaffling the match-winning catch.

Talking Point

While we all gawk at Sooryavanshi's logic-defying antics, there's undoubtedly a method to all this madness. Lesser mortals may have been overawed by the occasion of an Eliminator. But not Sooryavanshi. His ability to keep things simple and assess situations at their face value are two ingredients of the secret sauce. At 15, he's untouched by the burdens of fear, reputation and skill of his opponent. Being young doesn't intimidate him, it frees him. That is the lightness of being Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

The Chatter

Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Vikram Rathour all said the same thing in different ways - Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is left to his own devices and no one is really privy to his inner workings.

Riyan Parag said that he likes being a "perfectionist" and that he felt that RR "should have gotten 260"

Sooryavanshi confirmed what everyone else just said above by saying, "I just try to play the game I'm in and not overthink."

James Franklin felt that Sooryavanshi was peerless and said "I don't think anyone's ever seen a talent like this".

Meanwhile, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan eased the worries of many by saying, "My understanding is that he (MS Dhoni) will come back next season."

Stat Snack

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (65) is now the IPL's new six-hitting king having surpassed Chris Gayle (59) for the most sixes in an IPL season.

Gossip Column

After successive 240+ scores in two Playoff games, the bowlers union is not happy. They've recently adopted the shovel as their official symbol and have reportedly made some serious threats, the details of which are still emerging. Their new symbol might provide a clue.

Today's watchlist

Last night's highlights. Seriously, do yourself a favour.

Reckless prediction for today

An all-star game involving IPL legends will be scheduled impromptu. Among those involved will be a commentator who hasn't officially retired yet and an omnipresent admin.