Why A Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Question To Manu Bhaker Has Created A Social Media Storm

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It was a question about a young achiever to another young achiever. Manu Bhaker, the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal, was on Monday asked about 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. However, it has generated a strong response from social media. Speaking on the sidelines of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) 75th anniversary celebrations in Delhi, Manu spoke about Sooryavanshi. “I would say that if the mentorship is good, the company around him is good, and the people around are good, then age is just a number. And there is no age for talent. Great things happen at 60, they happen at six. So if the people around him mentor him well and guide him properly, then I am sure he will be the next big star,” the 24-year-old shooter was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Manu Bhaker won two bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. First, she won a bronze in the 10m pistol event and then another in 10m pistol mixed team, becoming the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympic Games.

Reacting to the question directed at Manu, former KKR team director, Joy Bhattacharjya wrote on X: “Folks, she is an Olympic medallist. To ask her what she thinks of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is unfair to her achievements and her sport. Cricket anyway is the ruling passion of the country; your sports editors do not need another celebrity quote to spin a headline on Sooryavanshi. Optionally, next time ask Vaibhav Sooryavanshi about Manu Bhaker and see the looks you get.”

Other social media users commented that cricketers are rarely, if ever, asked about the achievements of sportspersons from other disciplines.

Sooryavanshi continues to make headlines in the world of cricket, becoming the youngest player to reach 1,000 T20 runs and the first uncapped player to hit two centuries in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which he achieved recently against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Be it domestic cricket, starring for India U19 by winning the World Cup and ending as the Player of the Tournament, or producing dazzling performances in the world’s biggest cricket league, the 15-year-old appears to be on a fast-track during his brief career so far.

In the ongoing IPL season, Sooryavanshi has scored 357 runs in eight innings at an average of 44.62 and a strike rate of over 234, including one century and two fifties, with a best score of 103.

At the U19 World Cup earlier this year, Sooryavanshi finished as the second-highest run-getter with 439 runs in seven matches at an average of 62.71 and a strike rate of 169.49. He registered one century and three fifties, with a best score of 175. He smashed a record-breaking 30 sixes in the competition, surpassing South Africa’s Dewald Brevis‘ tally of 18 sixes in the 2022 edition. In fact, he now holds the record for the most sixes in U19 World Cup history.

He is also India’s leading run-getter in U19 ODIs, with 1,412 runs in 25 innings at an average of 56.48 and a strike rate of over 165, including four centuries and seven fifties, with a highest score of 175.

Since October 2024, it has been onwards and upwards for the southpaw. He first grabbed headlines with a 58-ball century for India U19 against Australia U19 in Chennai, the fastest by an Indian U19 batter in Youth Tests.


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