Former England captain Michael Vaughan has praised young Indian player Vaibhav Suryavanshi ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The cricketer-turned-commentator, recalling his century against England in the U19 World Cup 2026 final, called Suryavanshi a special talent.
India U19 defeated England U19 by 100 runs in the World Cup final last month. Batting first on 6 February, the Indian team made a huge score of 411/9. The left-handed batsman played a stormy innings of 175 runs with the help of 15 fours and 15 sixes in just 80 balls at an incredible strike rate of 218.75.
The youngster was named Player of the Series after finishing as the tournament’s top performer. He scored 439 runs in seven innings at an average of 62.71, which included three half-centuries and one century.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi is a special talent – Michael Vaughan
Speaking to Harsha Bhogle for Stick to Cricket, Michael Vaughan praised Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s bright future. “We have another one coming. Yes, he’s a special talent.”
Harsha Bhogle reveals his conversation with VVS Laxman about the young player’s fearless approach. Bhogle said that his talent forced the Rajasthan Royals franchise to trade Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings.
“I was listening to Alastair Cook talking about Suryavanshu on the programme. I asked VVS Laxman about him. I said, ‘Is he really that good? But he doesn’t stop a ball! At some point, he has to stop a ball. Because of him, Rajasthan Royals have let Sanju Samson go to CSK. Because they have Jaiswal and Suryavanshu for them.'”
I think he is https://t.co/ZJ2wc1YeC9
– Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) 10 March 2026
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s impressive domestic and IPL performance
Vaibhav also performed brilliantly in domestic cricket. He scored 197 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 168.37 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 220 runs at an excellent strike rate of 235.10.
The talented youngster was bought by Rajasthan Royals for ₹1.1 crore during the IPL 2025 auction. He impressed everyone with his brilliant performance in his first IPL season. He scored 252 runs in seven matches at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 206.55.
The left-handed batsman won the ‘Super Striker of the Season’ award in IPL 2025, which included a cash prize of ₹10 lakh and a brand new Tata Curve SUV.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi will return to action for Rajasthan Royals
Vaibhav Suryavanshi will next return to action in IPL 2026, which is likely to begin from March 28. Vaibhav Suryavanshi will continue to represent Rajasthan Royals after being retained for ₹1.10 crore. The franchise will be hopeful that he will maintain his excellent form in the season.
Meanwhile, the franchise will be led by new captain Riyan Parag. RR has players like Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubham Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Luan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Singh Charak and fast bowler Kuldeep Sen.
The team also includes Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Mafaka, Nandre Berger and Sam Curran. The remaining roster for the upcoming tournament is completed by Donovan Ferreira, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja, Aman Rao, Brijesh Sharma and Adam Milne.
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