AB de Villiers is Mr. Cricket to me: Vijay Zol

The young batsman talks about his stint at RCB, teammates and IPL

A native of Jalna in Maharashtra, Vijay Zol was making waves in age-group cricket before he was drafted into his state side. The left-hand opener had the media buzzing around him when in the Cooch Behar Under-19 Trophy in December 2011 he scored an unbeaten 451 off 466 balls against Assam. Needless to say, his team cantered to victory in that game. With that performance came the opportunity to wear the Royal Challengers Bangalore jersey and a place in the national Under-19 side.

The young lad went from strength to strength as he worked consciously to evolve as a player. In his second season for the national Under-19 team, Zol was handed the leadership baton from Unmukt Chand. Now at 19, the top-order batsman leads a busy life as he travels across borders to play the game he loves and cherishes. Among his list of achievements so far, the U-19 Asia Cup win, earlier this year, ranks pretty high.

Signed by the Bangalore franchise ahead of the 2012 season of the Indian Premier League, he was brought back into the star-studded line-up for the seventh season of the league as well. Besides the able support and guidance of his family, Zol has keenly learnt from the seniors in the various teams he represents – one of which is the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Speaking about the franchise, Zol said, “I have been enjoying my time with RCB. They have been kind to me. I have learnt a lot in the last couple of years because of being around the big names. It has helped.”

The petit teenager, who has drawn inspiration from Virender Sehwag, possesses an uncanny ability to time the ball and pierce the field. As he looks forward to the 2014 edition of the premier T20 tournament, he will once again get an opportunity to rub shoulders and learn from some of the biggest players in the game.

When asked what he would like to pick from a few of them, Zol said that his captain Virat Kohli’s energy and aggression along with Yuvraj Singh’s big hits are some of the things he hopes to emulate. When asked about Chris Gayle, Zol’s instant response was “fearless.” The fearlessness that the big West Indian displays on the field is something that a lot of budding cricketers like Zol would like to pick up.
And while talking about AB de Villiers, Zol had a look of admiration in his eyes. “He is Mr Cricket for me. He can do everything. He can ‘keep wicket, he can field like a tiger and bat in any situation. So, I would like to take that kind of mindset from him.”

With yet another season of IPL upon us, many youngsters like Zol will be eager to share dressing rooms with the established game changers and make most of the opportunity to interact and observe the seniors and legends from close quarters.

Zol himself has been learning from these opportunities and evolving with the responsibilities handed to him. One of those key responsibilities is captaining the U-19 national team, speaking of which, he said, “Yes, it is an extra bit of responsibility, so that reflects in your batting too. You need to perform in every game and you need to set examples for your team. So that helps.”

“As a captain, I want to stay there at the wicket as long as possible, so that I score runs for my team. As a senior batsman, I should spend more time at the wicket, so in the end, I can accelerate.” Zol will, undoubtedly, pick many more valuable pointers about leadership from the RCB camp as IPL 2014 progresses.