Batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who won the U-19 World Cup at the age of 14, is now focused on helping Rajasthan Royals win the Indian Premier League in the upcoming season.
In addition to becoming the youngest centurion in the IPL 2025, Sooyavanshi’s 80-ball 175-run innings in the final match against England earlier this year helped India win a record-extending sixth U-19 World Cup in Harare. His attention is now on the IPL.
“The goal this IPL season is to win the trophy for the team, as it is a very important thing. I want to do well, and my performance will help the whole team. This is my goal — to contribute to RR’s wins and win the trophy for the franchise,” PTI quoted Sooryavanshi telling broadcaster Star Sports on the sidelines of the BCCI Naman Awards in New Delhi on Sunday.
At the awards ceremony, Sooryavanshi—who is renowned for his explosive batting—met his World Cup-winning teammates.
“(It) feels really nice. Won a trophy as well for India at the World Cup. Because of this award ceremony, feeling nice to meet my teammates and coaches again here,” the teen sensation said.
When Sooryavanshi, at 13 years old, was acquired by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore in 2024, he became the youngest player to sign an IPL contract. The youngster reminisced about his early days with the RR scouts.
“When I made my domestic debut, RR had been keeping an eye on me during my domestic and Under-19 games. Their scouting team had been keeping an eye on me for a long time. I felt that I could go to RR because my trial with them had gone very well. I am happy to be with RR, as I have improved a lot too in my life while playing for them,” he said.
The legendary Rahul Dravid and other team seniors have taught him a lot, according to Sooryavanshi.
“For any youngster, the first IPL camp is always interesting and it was the same for me too. Rahul (Dravid) sir was there at that time, so I got to learn a lot from him. There were a lot of senior players in the team, and I had a good learning experience from them during the first camp as well as the first IPL,” he said.
