Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who celebrated his 15th birthday a few days ago, started his IPL 2025 campaign for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in style as he smashed a 15-ball fifty, helping his team defeat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their opening game in Guwahati on March 30.
Chasing 127 runs, RR was buoyed by Sooryavanshi’s 17-ball 52 with 4 fours and 5 sixes, while Yashasvi Jaiswal made 38* to ensure the team won the game by 8 wickets and 7.5 overs to spare.
The left-handed batter from Samastipur in Bihar, who was signed for Rs 1.10 crore by the Jaipur-based franchise in the IPL 2025 mega auction, has been a phenomenon since his debut last year. He hammered his first ball in IPL for a six and then scored a 35-ball century against the Gujarat Titans.
He recently hammered 175 runs for India U19 in the final of the ICC U19 World Cup against England, helping India clinch the title. And now there are calls for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be pushed into the Indian team as he has reached the ICC mandate of 15 years of age for international debut.
However, former India spinner R Ashwin has stated that while Sooryavanshi is too good not to play for India, we must wait for that to happen organically and not put pressure on the young kid.
“Don’t give him such a target. He is not even a man; he is a kid. If MS Dhoni is playing until 45, and if Sooryavanshi plays until 40, he has two and a half decades left in cricket. Leave him alone; he will come on his own when the time is right. He is too good not to play for India. He will play anyway eventually. When will he play? For that, we might have to wait a bit. Why are we always in a hurry?" Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Vaibhav's offensive batting performance in RR's season opener was praised by Ashwin, who also said that CSK had no solutions against him.
“He turned 15 years old, so he scored a 15-ball 50 – he is showing his age. I mean, what a player he is! How fast is his bat speed? CSK had no answers against him; they looked like a flat, deflated unit on the field. RR have put on such a dominating performance that they have said, ‘Look at us, we are also a powerful team in this competition’," Ashwin added.
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