His name may have been one of the last read out on the roster at school but many are predicting that Indian teenager Vijay Zol may well soon be one of the first names on the Indian cricket team’s list of players.
Many young players, especially Indian players, have shone at the world’s junior age tournaments only to disappear within a couple of years, but it would appear that Zol is the real article.
Not surprisingly growing up in a virtually unheard of place called Jaina Zol was inspired watching Sachin Tendulkar play in Sharjah in 1998. What impressed the then young Zol was that Tendulkar always had a hunger for more runs.
Zol not only shone as the Captain of India’s under 19 team but has put his observation into practise. In December 2011 he scored 451 runs off of 467 deliveries in a domestic under 19 tournament for Maharshtra. This innings broke the 19 year old record of Yuvraj Singh when he scored 358. It also surpassed Bhausaheb Nimbalker’s 1948 innings of 443 the then highest first class score by an Indian player. Nimbalker never played test cricket.
Zol, who also says that Australian Michael Hussey is a player he models his game on always trying to score quickly has had many heads turning and his 91 against a Mumbai bowling attack that included Zaheer Khan in the quarter finals of India’s domestic competition has many believing that this young man is definitely destined for test status.
