Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may still be waiting for his India debut, but the teenage sensation has already impressed some of the biggest names in world cricket. After former Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin urged fans to be patient with the youngster’s development, Rajasthan Royals head coach and legend of Sri Lanka Kumar Sangakkara he shared remarkable stories that perfectly captured the fearless mindset and remarkable confidence of the 15-year-old batsman.Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket during the first India-Ireland T20I coverage, Sangakkara recalled Sooryavanshi confidently predicting match-winning performances long before he took to the field. He also revealed how the young man fearlessly took on the English pace Jofra Archer in the nets during the early training camp of Rajasthan Royals, leaving everyone stunned.Kumar Sangakkara said on Sky Sports Cricket:“This year we played against Lucknow Super Giants. We had to chase 220 to win and stay in the competition. We were the first to take the field. Vaibhav came up to me, waved and said, ‘Coach, don’t worry. It’s over.’“Then he went into the dressing room and said to Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dré Pretorius, ‘Listen, you two. I’m going to hit 13 sixes. When I do that, you do the rest.’ He ended up hitting 10. When he got to five or six sixes, Donovan and Pretorius looked at each other and thought, ‘What is he talking about?’ Then they started counting because they realized that this kid could really do it. “That’s the confidence level he has,” Sankakkara said.Sangakkara also recalls his first impression of Sooryavanshi during the Rajasthan Royals camp in Guwahati.“The first time I saw Vaibhav was when I came to Guwahati for a two-week camp. There was this little side net where players like Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma were bowling with the new ball and nobody really wanted to bat there. Then Vaibhav came in and just said, ‘I’ll bat.’ Every time the ball hit the middle of his bat, it sounded like a gunshot. He took Archer, he took Sandeep Sharma. At one point, I think Archer just stopped and laughed because he was bowling seriously fast and this 14-year-old kid was treating him with utter contempt,” he added.
Starry IPL 2026
Sooryavanshi announced himself on the biggest stage during IPL 2026, enjoying a record-breaking campaign for Rajasthan Royals. The left-hander finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 776 runs, winning the Orange Cap, MVP, Emerging Player, Super Striker and Super Sixes awards. His fearless approach, highlighted by a stunning 97 off 29 balls in the Eliminator and a century in Qualifier 2, established him as one of the brightest young talents in world cricket.
