Everyone beware, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can also take wickets now

After being dismissed for just eight on his Duleep Trophy debut, Sooryavanshi produced an unexpected cameo with the ball on Day 3 of East Zone’s quarter-final against North East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.

The 15-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner was introduced into the attack in the 26th over of North East Zone’s second innings, and struck twice one over later.

His first wicket was Kishan Lyngdoh. Sooryavanshi tossed one up and angled it into the batter, who came down the track looking to launch it. Instead, he miscued the shot towards mid-wicket. Substitute fielder Denish Das had plenty of ground to cover but backtracked well and completed the catch.

Also Read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's Duleep Trophy vice-captaincy proves India is rushing his rise

Then, with the penultimate ball of the over, Sooryavanshi struck again. Imliwati Lemtur got an edge, but there was no escape as wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan reacted quickly to pouch a low catch, as he picked up two wickets in four balls. Sooryavanshi bowled one more over, to eventually finish with figures of 2-11.

It was enough to get social media buzzing, with fans quick to suggest that Sooryavanshi might have another label to add to his rapidly growing cricket CV: all-rounder.

Even Rajasthan Royals, the franchise that snapped him up in the IPL, got involved. The Royals posted: “We don’t say it was obvious, but there were signs.” The reference appeared to point towards Ravindra Jadeja, another left-hander who has made a name for himself as an all-rounder. Jadeja began his career as a promising batter before becoming a regular contributor with the ball as well. The franchise also posted a video of Sooryavanshi dismissing batters in the nets during the IPL season.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi picking wickets? We’ve seen this before 😂👀 pic.twitter.com/NkMawYncPL

Sooryavanshi is not completely new to bowling in first-class cricket. Before this match, he had bowled in five of his eight appearances in the format, taking two wickets at an average of 28.50. His latest spell doubled his wicket tally, with his average falling to 17!

East Zone comfortably won the game by an innings and 210 runs and will face Central Zone in the semif-final next week.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi provides Double Delight ✌️

Picks up 2⃣ wickets in the over. 2 excellent catches as well. 🙌

North East Zone are 79/7 in the 2nd innings after following on.

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/XJFhfvvTIU#DuleepTrophy pic.twitter.com/NnYbBPnrja

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