Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi celebrates his century during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans in Jaipur. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: Vinayak Samant is one of the many whose jaw dropped when he first saw teenage bat prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The former Bihar Ranji coach could not believe what he was witnessing.“Vaibhav is extraordinary,” Vinayak Samant tells TimesofIndia.com.
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Greenstone Lobo predicts IPL 2026 winner“What I love about him is his bindaas (carefree) attitude. This boy is just fearless. What impressed me was that he didn’t play cross-bat shots at all. It was refreshing to see that,” he recalls.Vaibhav’s ‘bindaas’ attitude is reflected in his six strokes. Recently, at the Naman Awards, Sanju Samson spoke about the teenager’s attitude while interacting with former Rajasthan Royals coach Rahul Dravid.“I thought I was there in a meeting. So Rahul Sir invited him in the room. Sir said, ‘Sanju, we have to talk to him. He is a very young kid, we have to tell him how to go about it’,” Samson said at the Naman Awards in New Delhi.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (PTI Photo)
“So, Rahul Sir asked him, ‘Vaibhave, what’s the plan?’ Vaibhav said:’No need, sir, we have to play (Nothing special, sir. I’ll just play).’ Dravid asked, “What’s your game plan?”“Vaibhav said, ‘Agar hume pehle mila to hum pehla hi uda denge (If I get the first ball in my zone, I will go the aerial route).’ He did exactly that. He’s playing his own video game,” Samson added.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi burst onto the IPL scene last season, smashing 24 sixes in just 122 balls. He has amassed 252 runs in seven matches at an insane pace of 206.55. He has since played for India U-19, hammering centuries in England and Australia, including clutch knocks in the U-19 World Cup semifinals and finals.
The strategy against him will be to mix yorkers on middle and leg, bouncers on the off stump and slower ones away from him.
Vinayak Samant Former coach of Bihar
Big names have already labeled him a “miracle,” but the second-season blues have hit many young stars before. The real question now is, can Vaibhav keep the fire going?“Opponents will work on his weaker zones. It won’t be easy for him, but knowing him, he won’t flinch,” laughs Samant.“The strategy against him will be to bowl yorkers on middle and leg, bouncers on the off stump and slower ones off him. Don’t bowl him an arc or it will go out of the park. His hand-eye coordination is so gifted and I’ve never seen anyone pick a length so early,” he adds.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Photo by @BCCI on X)
Last year, Vaibhav smashed a 35-ball hundred, the second fastest after Chris Gayle in the IPL. He has now set his sights on breaking Jamaica’s record 175, the highest in the league.The fearless approach has brought Vaibhav a lot of fame, but Samant feels that it will take him a few years to mature.“He is a kid now. He should be enjoying cricket right now. He knows how to win matches for the team, but he will grow out of it in a year or two. The more first-class cricket he plays, the better cricketer he will become,” he adds.
He is never afraid to play any shot. The margin of error if you bowl with it is very small. And he’s batting in the power play
Vinayak Smart on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
But Samant says T20 is Vaibhav’s territory and believes the youngster can break all records.“He’s never afraid to play any shot. The margin for error if you bowl him is very small. And he bats in the power play. He can hit sixes at will,” he says.
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“He has his own way of showing temperament, which I think is very unique. His ability to play on the merits of the ball is second to none. He is a powerful striker, but he can also play very well on the ground. He cuts, pulls, drives, sweeps and sweeps. He has all the shots in his arsenal,” he adds.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is young, unflappable and looks set to torment bowlers for years. At the age of 15, he is already a role model for many. But he will enter his second IPL season from Monday evening. It won’t be a rookie this time. Will the youngster rise up and silence the naysayers? Only time will tell, but the savvy Rajasthan Royals believe he has the credentials to dominate. Opponents and coaches may need to fasten their seat belts as the Sooryavanshi wave is here to stay.
