Former India head coach Rahul Dravid heaped praise on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rising stature as a top-tier professional, keeping even international bowlers on their toes in just his second IPL season. Dravid was the head coach at the Rajasthan Royals when they scooped up a 13-year-old Sooryavanshi for Rs 1.10 crore in November 2024 ahead of the IPL 2025 season.
The youngest-ever player to feature in the league, Sooryavanshi plundered an international-quality Gujarat Titans bowling attack in his maiden season, smashing a 35-ball century that is now the fastest-ever by an Indian. This season, the Bihar prodigy has built on those exploits and emerged as the most devastating opening batter, smashing over 400 runs and 40 sixes in only 12 outings. Sooryavanshi has expanded his repertoire of shots while also taking down the best in the business, with Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and others bearing the brunt of his blade.
While Dravid has moved on from the Royals franchise, the former India skipper shared his elation in witnessing Sooryavanshi’s rapid strides.
“I mean he is a very, very special talent. There’s no doubt about it. I think we can go on and on. I think everyone’s already said anything that needs to be said about Vaibhav. It’s incredible to be able to watch a young boy able to take on some of the best players in the world and do it so successfully,” said Dravid on The Wisden’s Scoop podcast.
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Dravid chuckled at the fate of international-level pacers, sharing an unusual predicament of preparing for a 15-year-old boy ahead of match days.
“In fact, in some ways, I’m sure a lot of these more experienced world-class bowlers must be going to their team meetings and thinking, ‘my god we are having to think about a 15 year old kid. I can imagine some of the thoughts that are going on (laughs).
“I’m sure they never thought about this a year and a half ago, that we would have to be spending a lot of time in your team meeting discussing a 15 year-old. Some of them would have laughed at you. That’s in in a sense incredible, what he’s been able to do. I think it’s great to see a talent like that. I hope he’s able to really go on and fulfill the obvious talent that he has and he’s already bringing a lot of joy to so many people and hope he can continue to do that,” remarked Dravid.
Sooryavanshi, who has been busy breaking records this IPL season, will soon don the India A colours next month during a tri-series tour to Sri Lanka. As previously reported by The Indian Express, the selectors are keen on fast-tracking the young batting sensation in the white-ball team with the upcoming T20 series in the UK against Ireland and England or the series in Zimbabwe in July being a definite possibility.
