Vaibhav Sooryavanshi started his Indian Premier League (IPL) career with a six. It wasn’t a club bowler that he launched out of the park, but a Test cricketer, Shardul Thakur. He did all this at just 14. The cricket community were shocked at what they’d seen, but then Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson and head coach Rahul Dravid weren’t.
When Sooryavanshi shocked Dravid & Samson
You see, a day before making his IPL debut against the Lucknow Super Giants, Samson and Dravid had called Sooryavanshi for a chat. Dravid, in particular, was concerned about the 14-year-old. How will he handle it? He’ll be under pressure.
Asked about the conversation during the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) NAMAN Awards 2026, Sooryavanshi said, “On the eve of the match, Sanju bhaiya and Dravid sir called me. They asked me, ‘What’s your plan?’ I told them, If I get the ball in my area, I’ll smash it.”
However, before Sooryavanshi could finish, Samson interjected. He asked if he could narrate the story. While mimicking the 14-year-old, the former RR skipper stated that Vaibhav wanted to whack the ball for a six if it was in his zone. And that’s exactly what happened. Samson and Dravid were shocked on the eve of the match, but not afterwards.
“Dravid, sir, invited him to his room. He told me, ‘Sanju, we have to talk to him; he’s a very young kid. We have to tell him how to go about it.’ So Rahul sir asked, ‘Vaibhav, what is the plan?’ He replied, ‘Koi plan nahin hai, sir; hum toh khelenge.’ He asked again, ‘What is your game plan?’ He replied, ‘Agar humme pehla milla toh hum pehla hi udda denge.’ That’s exactly what he did, actually. We thought, it’s like he’s playing a video game,” Samson said.
