Cricket still able to accommodate old traditions and new styles

LONDON: In cricketing history, the exploits of Vaibhav Suryavanshi are assured of a prime place. At 14 years of age, he scored a century in 35 deliveries for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League on April 28, 2025.

The outing was only his third IPL match, having memorably hit the first ball he received on his debut for six. The century was the second-fastest in IPL history. The attack Suryavanshi plundered for 11 sixes and seven fours contained established internationals such as Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan. 

Suryavanshi has also shown his talents with a 58-ball hundred for India U-19s against Australia U-19s in an unofficial Test in Chennai last October. He has scored half-centuries at U-19 level against Sri Lanka and the UAE, as well as 71 off 42 balls for Bihar against Broda in India's domestic 50-over competition. This is good to hear in an era when T20 cricket is fast becoming cricket’s dominant format, threatening to obscure the longer formats.

It occurred to me that the generation that has grown up with the rise of T20 cricket may be unaware what declaration cricket means. Declarations are not usually a feature of short-format cricket but they are available in Test match and first-class cricket matches in which both teams can bat twice. A declaration is a strategic tool, when the batting team decides to end its innings before all players are out. There are various circumstances when this may be relevant, but it is usually to try and enforce a victory.

A common reason for declaring is to set a target for the opposition to chase. By declaring at a certain point, the captain aims to give the opposition a difficult, but achievable, target in the time remaining. This encourages the opposition to take