Speculation is growing over an international debut for 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is currently touring Ireland and England with the Indian squad. Despite the massive media attention surrounding the explosive teenager, Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara believes the youngster can handle the spotlight easily.
Sangakkara, who worked closely with him in the IPL, feels that the youngster remains unfazed by his sudden rise. “He will have many opportunities ahead, in cricket and commercially. How he balances that, and the support he gets from his family and the team, will be crucial,” Sangakkara told Sky Sports.
“But one thing I can say for sure is that Vaibhav loves batting. He loves the game. The fame and flash don’t really affect him. He is very grounded and curious about many things.”
The coach added that the young star maintains a healthy balance away from the field. “He doesn’t just live and breathe cricket all the time. He has space for other things. I have no doubt he will be a force for Indian cricket, world cricket, and in franchise cricket. Mentally, he is in a good place. I think he will deal with everything that comes with fame very well,” Sangakkara said.
To show the teenager’s ultimate confidence, Sangakkara shared a dressing-room story from a match against Lucknow Super Giants, who were defending 220 runs. Before opening the chase, a calm Sooryavanshi looked at his coach, winked, and said, “Coach, don’t worry. It’s done.”
He then walked inside and told teammates Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, “Listen you two, I’m going to hit 13 sixes today. After that, you just finish the job.” He ended up hitting 10 sixes.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting coach Dinesh Karthik also praised the teen, recalling how RCB’s top pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood struggled against him. “Before our game against RR, we discussed what could be a weakness for this young batter. We felt a perfect yorker or a well-directed bouncer might work. But in Guwahati, nothing worked,” Karthik said.
Karthik called him the toughest batter to bowl to in the IPL due to his wide base and strong offside play. He added, “Outside the powerplay, he is smart enough to stick to his strengths. He is not a one-dimensional player. He can take singles and rotate strike, and if you bowl in his zone, he puts you away.”
