Jofra Archer may not have given a straight answer to the question every IPL bowler dreads—who is the one batter they keep struggling against in the nets—but there is a name that has shown up time and again. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has often been the man who seems to punish bowlers during practice sessions. After Rajasthan Royals thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad to knock the 2016 champions out of the tournament and book their place in a title shot, attention turned to the Royals’ next big hurdle: a Qualifier 2 clash against Gujarat Titans on Friday evening. During the build-up, the broadcaster posed Archer a playful query—where he targets Sooryavanshi in the nets—and the England quick deadpanned, “I’ll tell you after the tournament is over,” prompting a round of laughter.
For all the bravado, Archer’s “mystery” may not be all that reassuring. Even if he has managed 24 wickets this season, the early days of the Royals’ social media updates suggested he, too, took a pounding at the hands of Sooryavanshi. After 16 matches, it appears that no bowler has quite cracked the code against the teenager—except for one. As it turns out, the answer comes from within the Royals’ coaching staff, and he isn’t a member of the playing XI.
During his time as a cricketer, Sooryavanshi’s frequent nemesis used to be a batter himself, and he has now worked closely with players in a coaching capacity. He even spent time as India’s batting coach during Rahul Dravid’s period as head coach, and he is currently serving in the same batting-coaching role at the Rajasthan Royals.
That’s right—the man is Vikram Rathour.
While Sooryavanshi was in full flow, driving the momentum as he raced toward the quickest hundred in IPL history, broadcasters cut into the dugout conversation to speak with Rathour amid the chaos. In the middle of the onslaught, Sunil Gavaskar asked Rathour whether there was anyone in the Royals setup who could get the young hitter out. Rathour’s reply was light, but confident: “It’s only me, I think. I throw it with my stick, and I actually get him out quite often. I’m not telling you why.”
What goes on in Sooryavanshi’s mind
Rathour also admitted he doesn’t fully know what goes through Sooryavanshi’s mind while he is batting. Still, he believes the teenager is simply having a great time and taking full advantage of a surface built for batting. After speaking with him recently, Rathour felt there was no elaborate blueprint behind the approach—just a genuine enjoyment of the task, especially the joy of clearing the ropes, which is obvious in the way he plays.
“To be honest, the way he is batting, as a coach, one of the key things that I’ve learned is that sometimes it’s better to say nothing. And when someone is batting like that, it’s the perfect flow. So I’m not telling him anything. Just enjoy your batting, look to bat well, and that’s it,” Rathour added.
Rathour pointed to Sooryavanshi’s willingness to keep refining his craft as a major advantage. “His biggest strength is to work on his game. He’s almost a genius the way he is batting at the moment. But the way he thinks his cricket is well is a big strength. Whatever people are trying, he is responding to it. Takes everything well. He practices it. You can see that he has all the shots. So far, he has brilliantly responded to everything he’s been through. Let’s see how far he goes.”
