IPL 2026 | Why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays only as an Impact Player: Rajasthan Royals coach explains

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) MUMBAI: He left the cricketing world mesmerized by his prodigious hitting skills, sixes and fours raining relentlessly from his marauding blade, but Rajasthan’s explosive opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also faced little scrutiny for playing as an ‘Impact Player’, meaning he didn’t just bat in all the games. The 15-year-old batting sensation has 579 runs in 13 matches at an average of 44.53 at an incredible strike rate of 236.32, with three fifties and a hundred in IPL-2026.However, former India batsmen Sanjay Manjrekar and Mohammed Kaif criticized RR’s decision to play the hard-hitting left-hander as an Impact Sub. While Manjrekar said that not fielding during matches will hamper Sooryavanshi’s growth as a player as fielding is also a specialized job and an important area for any cricketer, Kaif pointed out that the young gun “has not taken off this IPL season”. Asked ahead of his team’s crucial match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday afternoon why RR only played Sooryavanshi as an ‘Impact Player’, the team’s assistant coach Trevor Penny claimed that the youngster “is a very good fielder”. “So he’s a very good fielder. He’s got great hands. He moves well. He dives. He anticipates. He’s got it all. It’s just the way it’s worked. And sometimes when he’s opened the bat when he’s fresh in the second inning, it’s worked for us. So there’s no particular reason why, ‘oh, he’s not fielding’ we’re on the field.” So it has nothing to do with it. It’s just the circumstances. And sometimes there was a bit, maybe a better fielder or more experienced. But generally it was to keep him fresh for his batting,” Penny said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday. Penny insisted that Sooryanshi’s running between the wickets was also “very good”. “But he doesn’t really have to run between the wickets much, does he? It’s just about the break. I think he can if he has to. You saw in the last game he had 10 off 11 balls. And he was so determined to win that game. That’s why he didn’t go for it and just try to hit from Ball One,” said the RR assistant coach. Praising Sooryavanshi, Penny said the youngster “lives in his own bubble” and was a gracious player he had not seen in his four-decade-old cricket career. “I’m sure he’s very excited (to play at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time). We don’t need to talk to him much. He’s just such a nice lad, he’s very confident, every day he’s so excited to go out and play and train. So to be honest, we don’t need to talk to him too much. He’s just in his own little bubble and then he’s just enjoying himself when he’s training. It’s quite rare that I’ve ever seen that, so I’ve been in cricket for 40 years and counting I haven’t seen it, so long may it last and I hope it works tomorrow.”How is the coaching staff of Rajasthan Royals, led by head coach Kumar Sangakkara, protecting Sooryavanshi from the massive hype that is building around him? “We’ve got a really good team, management staff, support staff looking after him. He’s very young and the nights are long and things like that. So we look after him in the evenings, we make sure he’s exercising properly and we take care of all the little things you have to do with a young guy. But in a way, he’s kind of a freak, how he’s dealing with it in Joffrey’s last season and so far.” he battled a bit, he came back really well,” said Penny.“Talk of missing England Test not bothering Archer”Meanwhile, RR England ace Jofra Archer, who missed the first Test against New Zealand starting on 4 June due to his IPL commitments, caused a storm in England, with former England captain Michael Atheron questioning in his column in The Times whether the “central contract” was worth it if he was to miss the first Test of the summer, calling the situation “incredibly very frustrating Captain Michael”. ECB-BCCI agree on Archer, questions IPL fast bowler’s involvement. When asked if Archer was affected by the criticism, Penny came up with a pragmatic answer. “Yeah, I’ve read some of the articles. It’s quite strange because it’s a big tournament. Everyone knows the IPL is where he should come. So if he misses one game for England, that’s it for him. I think that’s the way he thinks. But I don’t think it bothers him. I think he might be a bit upset, but I might be upset about it.” normal.He almost didn’t even mention it. The boys didn’t even talk about it. But yeah, it is what it is. Either you come and pick here and then annoy people there, or you leave early and then you have the problem of never coming back to the IPL.”Penny revealed that senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (elbow injury) and skipper Riyan Parag (hamstring and shoulder injuries), who missed the last match through injury, “looked good” but tentatively wondered whether the duo would feature in the team’s crucial league final against MI on Sunday. “Yes, they’ve got niggles. We’re going to test (them) today. It’s practice to see if we can pick them for tomorrow. I can’t say more than that. Not really on the selection panel. But they look good. Obviously there are niggles,” revealed Penny.