Vaibhav Suryavanshi just stepped onto the IPL stage for the first time, and wow, did he make a statement! Playing for the Rajasthan Royals, he faced his very first ball against Shardul Thakur from the Lucknow Super Giants and hit it for a six. Can you believe it? At just 14 years old, he’s now the youngest player to ever play in the IPL, and he didn’t hold back against players who are much older and more experienced than him. He ended up scoring 34 runs off 20 balls, which included two fours and two sixes. Pretty impressive, right?
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While the cricket community was buzzing about this kid’s bravery, his childhood coach, Manish Jha, wasn’t surprised at all. “Vaibhav is just a natural player,” he mentioned in an interview with News 18 CricketNext. “He plays aggressively and really loves to take charge against the bowlers. It doesn’t matter who’s bowling; he plays his game without any fear. Normally, younger players feel nervous when they face older opponents, but Vaibhav seems to thrive under that pressure. We’ve seen it in local matches, and now everyone is seeing it in the IPL.”
Jha reflected on how focused Vaibhav has been from the start. He explained, “In cricket academies, younger kids usually see about 40 to 50 balls in a day. But from the time I’ve coached him, Vaibhav would practice with 400 to 500 balls. He can quickly pick up new techniques and incorporate them into his play. The way he executes his shots is what sets him apart from his peers. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small local tournament or something like the Bihar Cricket Association; wherever he plays, he leaves a mark. If we were aiming for fifty runs from him, he often surprised us by scoring a hundred. He’s really gone above and beyond.”
His development over the past couple of years has been nothing short of amazing, which made Jha confident that he would secure an IPL contract last year. At the two-day mega auction held in Jeddah, Rajasthan Royals picked him up for a whopping Rs 1.1 crore! That’s a big deal for someone so young.
Jha pointed out how Vaibhav really stands out compared to his fellow players. “If you’d asked me back in April 2023 whether he’d reach this level so quickly, I’d have been uncertain. But after seeing how he performed in various tournaments, including the U-19 games and Ranji Trophy matches, we were sure a team would snag him at the auction. He’s an exciting player, really. He’s like ten years ahead of most kids his age.”
