Rajasthan Royals head coach and legendary cricketer opened up on the attention around Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the IPL 2025. After the youngster smashed 101(38) against GT, the head coach opened up and made an agreement that there would be attention around the young player. Dravid felt the need to build a strong support unit around him and agreed that a young player like him would have a share of success and failure.
He noted players in the past like Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kamlesh Nagakoti, and others, and noted how some players need time to establish themselves while others don’t. “I’ve seen talented youngsters in my time—Pant, Shubman, Jaiswal, Nagarkoti, Khaleel. Some journeys go really well; for others, it takes longer,” Dravid added.
“You cannot entirely avoid criticism or media attention around him. I don’t think you can control everything, and I believe you have to accept that. The idea is to help him navigate it and build a strong support system around him. It’s a part of becoming a cricketer in India—you have to handle it. We all recognise that he will have some success and some failure,” Dravid said via JioStar Press Room.
He could do really well in this tournament: Dravid
The former Indian player felt Vaibhav’s strength was his hand speed, adjustment to lengths, and a high back lift. He praised the young batter’s ability to pull the ball with enough power. He claimed that Suryavanshi could do well in the IPL by working a bit on his batting.
“What gives Vaibhav his power is his hand speed, his very high backlift, and how quickly he adjusts to length. You notice with Vaibhav that he picks up anything fractionally short or anything he can pull. He naturally has the power to play those shots. We felt that with a little bit of work, he could do really well in this tournament,” the Indore-born added.
The T20 World Cup-winning coach noted how the Samastipur-born worked with RR for 3–4 months before the IPL 2025 auctions. Dravid revealed that the 14-year-old got a chance to work with RR’s support staff and coaches, and the players from the Indian cricket team.
“We had three or four camps over three to four months leading into the tournament. He was getting to know the support staff and the coaches. He met all the Indian players and the backroom staff, and we were very clear that he needed to feel comfortable once the full squad arrived,” he concluded on the matter.
