Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Lamine Yamal: The tale of two prodigies from Rajasthan Royals and Barcelona

I love young talents; they are the future. Their fearlessness is incredible. Combine that with prodigious talent, and you get a heady blend that delights the audience and floors opponents. That’s what Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Lamine Yamal did; their exploits this week have been the talking point in sports circles.

Suryavanshi’s blistering century rocked the cricketing world. If you don’t believe me, check out the social media: everyone from Ian Bishop to Ravi Shastri to Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton has been gushing about his 35-ball ton against the Gujarat Titans.

A 14-year-old lashing world-class bowlers makes for a fantastic sight, and I have been watching the highlights on a loop. Not every shot came off the middle of the bat, but you expect that in a T20 tournament like the Indian Premier League. I was in awe of his timing and the power of his shots. This guy is special.

So special that Rajasthan and India have a responsibility to nurture his talent and ensure that he doesn’t lose his head. I just hope he doesn’t go the way of Vinod Kambli, Sadanand Vishwanath and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan — phenomenal talents who never fulfilled their true potential.

I want Suryavanshi to be another Sachin Tendulkar: a prodigy with a firm head on his shoulders. Of course, Suryavanshi should chart his course, but he can learn from Tendulkar, who didn’t take his talent for granted and worked on his game to become one of the greats.

Well, it’s too early to speak of Suryavanshi in the same breath as Tendulkar. His two-ball duck against Mumbai Indians has already attracted a bunch of critics who have dubbed him a hit-and-miss slogger. T20 is a slugfest where consistency suffers, but critics use it to their advantage. Ask Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson.

I will have my eyes trained on Suryavanshi for the rest of the IPL. At 14, he sure is an exciting talent.

Yamal is only 17, three more than Suryavanshi. Yet he’s accomplished so much, including a European Championship winner’s medal. In his 100th professional game for Barcelona on Wednesday, Yamal’s skill and creativity lifted the team to a pulsating 3-3 draw against Inter-Milan in the Champions League semi-final.

Besides a magical goal, the Spanish teenager produced an endless stream of extraordinary passes and deft touches that even had the rival coach drooling. Simone Inzaghi called Yamal a phenomenon that only comes along every 50 years.

Yamal didn’t have to contend with carping critics. His thrilling displays ensured that. Suryavanshi can take a leaf out of Yamal’s playbook.