One of the brightest young stars to emerge from the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) was Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who created history by becoming the youngest cricketer ever to feature in the tournament. At just 14 years old, the Bihar-born southpaw stunned fans with a breathtaking century against the Gujarat Titans while representing Rajasthan Royals in only his third IPL match.
His success didn’t stop there. Following the IPL, Vaibhav Suryavanshi continued his fine form for India U-19, further strengthening his case for a maiden senior national team call-up in the near future.
Rayudu’s Advice for Vaibhav: Learn from Brian Lara
Former India batter Ambati Rayudu heaped praise on the youngster’s fearless batting style, particularly highlighting his quick bat speed. However, Rayudu stressed that the left-hander could benefit from insights from West Indies legend Brian Lara, who had a similarly high bat lift during his illustrious career.
“𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒂… 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔,” 𝑹𝒂𝒚𝒖𝒅𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒓𝒂’𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕.
Rayudu also cautioned against overloading the teenager with advice, saying young talents should be encouraged to back their natural flair.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒔. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆,” 𝑹𝒂𝒚𝒖𝒅𝒖 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Rahul Dravid’s Guidance Key for Growth
Rayudu further pointed out that Vaibhav Suryavanshi is fortunate to have Rahul Dravid as the Rajasthan Royals’ head coach, someone who has been instrumental in nurturing India’s next generation of cricketers.
“𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝑹𝒂𝒚𝒖𝒅𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅.
Suryavanshi’s debut IPL season was nothing short of remarkable. He finished with 252 runs in seven innings at an impressive average of 36 and a strike rate of 206.56 — numbers that underline his immense potential and fearlessness at the crease.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma Partnership Fondly Remembered by Former Indian Coach
