Ravichandran Ashwin was once again left awestruck by the flawless batting display shown by young cricketer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Opening for Rajasthan Royals, Sooryavanshi made a thunderous 36 off just 16 deliveries, which included three fours and as many maximums, which helped RR get an early advantage in their run chase against Gujarat Titans in Match 52 of IPL 2026 in Jaipur on May 09.
Ashwin was taken aback by how Sooryavanshi took the charge against Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada in the powerplay by playing a quickfire innings. The former India spinner believes that such kind of high-intent batting can make Sooryavanshi a good prospect in not only the IPL but in all three formats of international cricket as well.
“He is taking every bowler down. I wouldn’t mind watching him in a Test match, and I wouldn’t mind watching him in all three formats of the game. Get him onto cricket grounds; get people coming along, because he is going to entertain you,” Ashwin said on JioHotstar.
Taking the example of his famous 175-run knock in the recent Under-19 World Cup final, Ashwin said that the 15-year-old has the rare ability to tonk the ball hard and can be a certain crowd-puller on the international stage.
“He is leaving no stone unturned, putting every ounce of force he can into the cricket ball. The way he played, even in the U-19 World Cup final, putting everything together, he is looking like a box-office player,” the former cricketer added.
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Furthermore, the veteran cricketer added that Sooryavanshi is quite young and has a lot of time to enjoy his cricket. He wants the left-handed batter to play the way he intends and not get influenced by decisions that can be taken at the later stages of his career.
“There are very few windows in your cricketing career where you can absolutely enjoy your cricket, and he is only 15 years old. I think we should just let him be. There is no point asking him to do things he shouldn’t be doing at this stage of his career,” Ashwin concluded.
