Dinesh Karthik believes that this comparison between Tendulkar and Sooryavanshi is absolutely meaningless. The RCB mentor and batting coach feels that Vaibhav will have completely different challenges as compared to what Sachin had during his time
Published: May 22, 2026 12:33 PM IST
Former Indian wicket-keeper and current Royal Challengers Bengaluru mentor Dinesh Karthik has warned against comparing Rajasthan Royals’ teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in a recent podcast named Quest Talk. His comments have come on the light of the 15-year-old taking the Indian Premier League 2026 by a storm.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is well on course to finish as the highest run-scorer in this year’s IPL edition. The teenager has smashed 579 runs in 13 matches so far at an average of 44.54. He is currently 3rd in the Orange Cap (most runs) race with Gujarat Titans’ opening pair Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill leading the charts with 638 and 615 runs respectively.
Sooryavanshi’s impressive performances have even led to the teenager getting picked for India A’s upcoming tri-series against Afghanistan A and Sri Lanka A. The left-hand batter has a fair amount of experience playing for India’s youth teams, most recently at the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup earlier this year.
He was a major reason behind India’s push for the U-19 World title as he scored 439 runs throughout the tournament, including a fantastic 175-run knock against England in the finale. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rise at such a young age has not only drawn appreciation but also comparison with some of the greats of the game, most notably Sachin Tendulkar who had a similar rise at the age of 16.
But Dinesh Karthik believes that this comparison between Tendulkar and Sooryavanshi is absolutely meaningless. The RCB mentor and batting coach feels that Vaibhav will have completely different challenges as compared to what Sachin had during his time.
“What Vaibhav is doing is very special, but what I don’t want the people to do is tag him as the next Sachin because he is just 15 years old and doing what he is doing. I think what Sachin did was extraordinary. Vaibhav’s challenges will be completely different.” – Dinesh Karthik said on an upcoming episode of Quest Talk podcast.
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Dinesh Karthik further added that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will have to deal with a lot more things off the field than what Sachin Tendulkar used to back in his day.
“Sachin’s challenges would have been as much on the field as they were off the field, but Vaibhav’s challenges will definitely be more off-field, because he possesses a lot of cricketing skills, dealing with everything that comes outside the sport.” – Karthik concluded.
