Former India cricketer R. Ashwin has backed young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to play all three formats of the game and termed him a ‘box-office’ player. This comes after Sooryavanshi smashed 36 runs in quick time for the Rajasthan Royals in their big loss to the Gujarat Titans in Jaipur in IPL 2026.
In the chase of 229 runs, Sooryavanshi smashed 36 runs in 16 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes. However, after he was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj soon after his blitz, RR crumbled under the pressure of the chase, getting bundled out for 152 runs and losing the game to GT by 77 runs.
Sooryavanshi has been on fire in the IPL 2026, with 440 runs in 11 games with a strike rate of 236.55, with one century and 2 fifties to his name for the Rajasthan Royals.
Regarding Sooryavanshi's thrilling innings against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Ashwin stated that the 15-year-old has the kind of attacking skill that can amuse spectators in any format.
“He is taking every bowler down. I wouldn’t mind watching him in a Test match, and I wouldn’t mind watching him in all three formats of the game. Get him onto cricket grounds; get people coming along, because he is going to entertain you," Ashwin was quoted as saying to JioHotstar.
Ashwin also described Sooryavanshi as a “box-office player" and urged people not to burden the youngster with excessive expectations at this early stage of his career.
“He is leaving no stone unturned, putting every ounce of force he can into the cricket ball. The way he played, even in the U-19 World Cup final, putting everything together, he looks like a box-office player.
There are very few windows in your cricketing career where you can absolutely enjoy your cricket, and he is only 15 years old. I think we should just let him be. There is no point asking him to do things he shouldn’t be doing at this stage of his career," he added.
Ashwin further highlighted how RR has experienced players like Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, and others, and Sooryavanshi shouldn’t be carrying the burden in a huge chase.
“He has experienced players like Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, and Donovan Ferreira to follow. He shouldn’t be the one carrying that burden. If he can give them flying starts, then with the batting line-up they have, they should be winning games like those comfortably," he concluded.
