Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s father has played down comparisons of the 15-year-old to legends like Sachin Tendulkar following his maiden India call-up. The youngster from Bihar broke Tendulkar’s record to become the youngest player to receive a Team India call-up as he was named in the squads for the T20I series against Ireland, England, and the Asian Games 2026. Following his selection, Sooryavanshi’s father said that it is wrong to compare the star to someone line Sachin or Don Bradman.
‘Comparing Sooryavanshi to Sachin, Bradman simply not right’
Speaking to NDTV in an interview after Sooryavanshi’s selection, his father Sanjeev said that it wasn’t right to compare the 15-year-old to Sachin or Bradman, adding that the legends had performed at the highest level and delivered massive performances for a long period of time. Vaibhav, who has witnessed a meteoric rise over the last couple of years, emerged as the Orange Cap winner 776 runs in IPL 2026. He also surpassed Chris Gaye’s record for scoring the most sixes in an IPL season. He played a key role in India’s triumph in the U19 World Cup, having slammed a century in the final.
“Look, comparing Vaibhav to Sachin or Bradman is simply not right. Those legends performed at the highest level for an incredibly long time, delivering massive performances. Right now, Vaibhav is not even equal to the dust on their feet. These comparisons should not be made,” Vaibhav’s father said.
Vaibhav’s father added that although the youngster was shown videos of several great southpaws like Yuvraj Singh and Brian Lara over the years, his game was unique and he played his own style of cricket. Well, this has been pretty evident. Sooryavanshi has the urge to hit the first ball he faces off any bowler for a maximum. After a phenomenal year of blasting sixes and amassing runs, a call-up to the Indian T20I side wasn’t far away.
“Brian Lara is a left-hander, and so is Vaibhav. I personally love Lara’s batting style, so I used to show him his videos. Over the years, he has watched videos of Lara, Yuvraj Singh, and several other cricketers. However, his game is uniquely his own. He plays his own distinct style of cricket,” his father added.
