Vaibhav Suryavanshi should not be playing men’s cricket as 13-year-old oversteps the mark | Cricket | Sport
If you’re good enough, you’re old enough. But come on, there has to be a line. Introducing a 13-year-old to professional men’s sport oversteps that mark.
Teenagers are usually learning their first swear word on the school playground at that age, not picking up a whole dictionary of naughty phrases from the men in the slips.
They should not be facing bowlers who send the ball steaming down the wicket at speeds of up to 97mph.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi made history as the youngest player to sign for an IPL side when he was auctioned for £105,000 this week.
He is ineligible to feature in the under-16 Vijay Merchant trophy for his club, Bihar, because players must be over 14.
Yet he has made his first-class debut for the senior side – and he did so at 12.
Young players at that age need protecting, not thrust into the spotlight to face some of the sport’s best.
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