Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid lauded Vaibhav Suryavanshi for his magnificent performances in the Indian Premier League 2025. Playing in his maiden season, the 14-year-old scored 252 runs in 7 matches at a strike rate of 206.55. The southpaw scored a hundred against the Gujarat Titans and was named the Player of the Match. In Rajasthan’s last contest of the season, he posted 57 runs, packed with 4 boundaries and 4 sixes against the Chennai Super Kings.
RR won the game by 6 wickets to finish the season with 4 victories. “He is a very talented player. When we saw him in the trials, we decided to add him to our team come what may. We kept a lot of money for him and didn’t buy some of the players because Vaibhav was our top priority. We knew the dynamics of the auction process,” he said on Star Sports.
Dravid revealed how the coaching staff improved Vaibhav’s game against the fast bowlers.
“We made him practice for hours against Jofra Archer. When a player comes from a domestic set-up, there is a possibility of him struggling against express pace. We wanted to make sure that Vaibhav doesn’t lack on this front,” he added.
Dravid liked Vaibhav’s fifty more than his hundred earlier in the season. “Although Vaibhav scored a century in one of the previous matches, he showed his temperament against Chennai. He didn’t went after the bowlers and choose deliveries carefully. He hit shots against Noor Ahmad and Ravindra Jadeja but adopted a cautious approach against R Ashwin,” he mentioned.
“Rahul Dravid is not behind his success but the credit goes to the Indian cricket. He enjoyed the environment at Rajasthan Royals but he has a long way to go. We must respect that he is a young player. Things will be challenging for him in the next season as teams will be better prepared. We spoke to him about the challenges he would face next year,” he concluded.
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