Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may still be waiting for his Indian debut, but the youth’s enthusiasm has already left the world’s biggest names behind. After former Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin urged fans to be patient with the baby’s development, Rajasthan Royals a great teacher and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara shared some interesting stories that showed the fearless attitude and incredible confidence of the 15-year-old fighter.Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket during the first India-Ireland T20I, Sangakkara recalled how Sooryavanshi had confidently predicted a match-winner long before he stepped on the field. He also revealed how the youngster fearlessly adopted England’s pace Jofra Archer in the nets during the training session of Rajasthan Royals, leaving everyone in awe.Kumar Sangakkara said on Sky Sports Cricket:“This year we were playing against Lucknow Super Giants, we had to chase 220 to win the match and stay in the competition. We started first. Vaibhav came to me, looked at me and said, ‘Teacher, don’t worry. It’s done.’“Then he went into the dressing room and said to Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dré Pretorius, ‘Listen, both of you. I’m going to hit 13 sixes. Once I do that, you just do the rest.’ He ended up hitting 10. When he got to five or six, Donovan and Pretorius looked at each other and thought, ‘What is he talking about?’ Then he started reading because he realized that this child can really do that. This is the level of confidence they have,” Sankakkara said.Sangakkara also recalled his first performance on Sooryavanshi at the Rajasthan Royals camp in Guwahati.“I first saw Vaibhav when I came to Guwahati for a two-week camp. There was this little wicket where the likes of Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma batted with the new ball, and nobody 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. They took Archer, they took Sandeep Sharma. At one point, I think Archer just stopped and laughed because he was so fast, and this 14-year-old kid was making fun of him,” he added.
Stars IPL 2026
Sooryavanshi announced himself on the biggest stage at 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, made him one of the brightest young talents in international cricket.
