Ian Bishop Recalls Being "Crashed Into a Tree" by Sachin: Compares Legend’s Feats With Suryavanshi’s Stellar IPL Knock

Mumbai (Maharashtra), India – On April 29th, former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop reminisced about facing a young Sachin Tendulkar back in 1990 when he was still a teenager. He mentioned being astonished by one particularly strong shot from Tendulkar which left him stunned. In comparing this legendary performance, Bishop drew parallels between Tendulkar’s feats and those of prodigious talent Vaibhav Suryavanshi, just 14 years old, who recently made history as the youngest player to score a hundred runs in a Twenty20 game for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). This remarkable achievement occurred during RR's recent encounter with the Gujarat Titans (GT), making Suryavanshi also the quickest Indian to reach an IPL century.

Bishop, who claimed 279 wickets for West Indies between 1988 and 1998, spoke in a video by ESPNCricinfo following Suryavanshi's 35-ball century against GT.

In the discussion about Suryavanshi, Bishop reminisced about the 1990 test match when India played against Derbyshire during their tour of England at the lively Chesterfield ground. In this encounter, Sachin dazzled with an impressive century, scoring 105 runs while pursuing a target of 236. One memorable stroke saw him hit Bishop’s delivery out of the park for a six. This astonished Bishop because India was struggling at 212/8 during the run chase, leading him to believe that Derbyshire had the victory well under control.

"When I played for Derbyshire, we were facing India in a match held at Chesterfield. It’s one of those moments etched in my memory forever. Our team decided to bat first, but honestly, I can’t recall our precise score. Those bounce-outs typical of Chesterfield made batting quite tricky—every ball seemed like it jumped right at you once inside the crease. We managed to stay competitive during the game until this young lad walked onto the pitch—he couldn't be more than five feet tall—and started batting. At first glance, he didn't seem threatening; yet after just a few deliveries from him, I figured things would go smoothly enough. But then again, toward the latter part of the innings when the run-rate became somewhat demanding, something unexpected happened: This small guy proved capable of hitting me nowhere near where everyone expected. As soon as I delivered the next bowl—a bit too short—I underestimated how powerful his swing could be. He sent the ball soaring beyond deep mid-wicket, clearing everything by miles—the furthest anyone had driven it off my bowling till date. That moment marked the debut of Sachin Tendulkar, aged 17, leaving even peak-conditioned Ian Bishop astounded," recounted Bishop admiringly.

The tour marked a pivotal moment in Tendulkar's career when he amassed 245 runs across three innings over five matches. This included scoring his maiden Test century with 51 not outs at Manchester, which helped India secure a draw. Additionally, he registered another half-century during this series.

Subsequently, discussing Suryavanshi’s remarkable performance, Bishop mentioned that he is even more youthful compared to when Sachin faced him initially and must have astounded GT’s top-tier bowling attack. This proved accurate as Suryavanshi smashed an impressive 101 off just 38 balls, including seven boundaries and eleven maximums, alongside a formidable partnership of 166 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal (70*). Their collaboration enabled RR to easily chase down a challenging target of 210 runs, achieving victory in only 15.5 overs.

"The young lad you see here is even more tender at just 14 years old, facing off against top-tier bowlers. This surely came as quite a shock to Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, and the others," he stated.

Bishop went on to say about the tone of the situation, "It’s difficult to approach this logically. Regardless of whatever GT presented on a silver platter, the boy is only 14 years old! He completely shattered everything that came his way tonight. There’s no denying that. Moving ahead, we might wonder how they will tackle him in the upcoming match and how he’ll respond to what comes his way. But for now, tonight, I couldn’t care less if the bowlers had offered him oranges."

The most significant event in Suryavanshi's career up until now saw him shatter multiple records.

-Vaibhav achieved his hundred off just 35 deliveries, making it the quickest century in IPL history after Chris Gayle’s 30-ball feat for RCB versus the erstwhile Pune Warriors India in 2013. Additionally, Vaibhav has become the fastest Indian batsman to reach this milestone in the IPL.

The southpaw, aged 14 years and 32 days, holds the record as the youngest player ever to hit a century in T20 cricket history, breaking through the previous mark held by Vijay Zol, who achieved this feat at 18 years and 118 days when he scored a hundred for Maharashtra against Mumbai back in 2013.

- This is also the seventh-quickest century in T20 cricket history, with the record holder being Sahil Chauhan from Estonia, who scored his hundred off only 27 deliveries against Cyprus in 2024.

Suryavanshi notched up his half-century in merely 17 deliveries, marking this as the fifth quickest feat in league annals, which made him the youngest player to achieve an IPL fifty.

Of Suryavanshi's total runs, 94 were scored via boundaries, comprising seven fours and eleven sixes. This equates to a boundary percentage of 93%, which is the highest for any century recorded in IPL history.

-Additionally, Vaibhav matched former Indian batsman Murali Vijay for the highest number of sixes by an Indian in an IPL inning, both hitting 11 sixes. The record for the most sixes in a single innings remains with Gayle, who smashed 17 maximums during his legendary 175* performance against Pune Warriors India.

Additionally, the 166-run collaboration between Vaibhav and Yashasvi Jaiswal stands as the highest partnership for any wicket for Rajasthan Royals, eclipsing the 155 runs scored earlier by Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal versus Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in 2022.

Suryavanshi reached his first-ever IPL century in merely three innings, surpassing Punjab Kings (PBKS) batsmen Priyansh Arya and Paul Valthaty, who achieved this feat in four innings, according to Wisden.com.

Vaibhav has accumulated 151 runs across three games in the IPL 2025, maintaining an impressive average of 75.50 and a striking strike rate of 222.05. His highest score stands at an unbeaten 101*. (ANI)