Last Updated:
Former India spinner Ashwin has joked about 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s impressive IPL debut, stunning everyone with his shot-making skills.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025, scored 252 runs in seven matches. (PTI/File)
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has joked about how when he made his Indian Premier League debut 18 years ago, teenage star Vaibhav Suryavanshi wasn’t even in his parents’ imagination, while speaking to Sanju Samson about the 14-year-old and his shot-making skills.
Vaibhav was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals for ₹1.1 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction, becoming the youngest cricketer ever to earn an Indian Premier League contract.
On his Indian Premier League debut, Vaibhav launched his very first delivery for a six and went on to score 34 off just 20 balls.
“When he hit the first ball for a six, I was like, ‘That’s cool…he lucked out’. But then he just went on and on and on. Wow! The quality of the shots he was hitting shocked me,” Vaibhav’s IPL captain, Sanju Samson, said while speaking on Ashwin’s YouTube channel.
“Let me tell you a small story, after the Rajasthan vs Chennai match in Delhi, I was talking to Panish (Shetty, RR lead analyst). You also joined us and left. It isn’t just about his (Vaibhav’s) hitting,” Ashwin replied.
“I bowled one to him round the stumps and he smacked it through the covers. The next ball, I bowled a slower one. You (Samson) have kept wickets for me for a long time and you know I do that to see if he would go for the big one,” Ashwin said.
“I pulled it a bit wide and he (Vaibhav) just waited and gave it a solid shot and the ball went through mid-on for a single. I remember thinking, ‘What the hell, man… Where has this guy come from?” Ashwin added.
“He (Vaibhav) was 14 and I made my IPL debut 18 years ago. He was not even in the imagination of his parents… That was quite crazy. I saw Jos Buttler talking to Jofra Archer about it. About how it was to get smashed around by a 14-year-old in the nets,” Ashwin said.
On April 28, 2025, Vaibhav blasted a hundred off just 35 deliveries, becoming the youngest centurion in Indian Premier League history and setting the record for the fastest century by an Indian in the tournament.
view comments
Read More
