New Delhi, May 31: India’s legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has heaped praise on 15-year-old sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, describing him as a truly special talent while also lauding the ability of the teenage batting prodigy to pick the correct line and length and smash the ball where he likes.
Sooryavanshi finished the IPL 2026, scoring 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.31 for the Rajasthan Royals. Along the way, he smashed 72 sixes, beating Chris Gayle’s record (59) of most sixes in an IPL season.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Tendulkar said that watching Sooryavanshi bat with such great skills is truly fascinating. “Everyone is talking about Sooryavanshi, and I watched him bat – it was magnificent. I mean, he is something truly special. And not just the ability to hit the ball, but what also fascinated me was the wrist work that he has,” Tendulkar said at the Cricinfo Honours, where he was named the ‘Best Men’s International Batter of the 21st Century,“I would tell him to just be himself. There is always a first time. In Test cricket, along with age, he will learn how to deal with various challenges. It’s about having a solution-oriented mindset. Problems are always going to be there. Problems will be there till the last day of your career, till the last ball you face. The bowler is asking a question every ball. Now, what solutions do you find? He’s kind of a player who looks very confident, very, very sure of what he wants to do, and I would not want to play around with his natural instincts,” he said.Tendulkar also hopes that Sooryavanshi will eventually play Test cricket for India but also urged fans and experts to not put pressure or expectations on the exciting talent. “Not just me, but everyone would want to see him (playing Test cricket) at some stage. I don’t know when that is going to happen. But an exciting talent needs encouragement,” he concluded. (IANS)
