Vaibhav Sooryavanshi\u2019s rise has been anything but overnight. When he first turned up for Rajasthan Royals trials, he didn\u2019t have the dramatic back-lift or the kind of bat speed that now makes opponents feel like they\u2019re bowling into a moving nightmare. What he did show, even then, was a sharp cricket brain and an unusually clear understanding of what the game demanded of him. Zubin Bharucha\u2014who worked with Sooryavanshi and remains one of the most respected batting mentors in the country\u2014has drawn a striking comparison to a 15-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, highlighting the way Sooryavanshi\u2019s skills have evolved as the competition around him has intensified.<\/p>\n
Bharucha believes one of Sooryavanshi\u2019s rare traits is his ability to develop in sync with cricket itself rather than trying to freeze a technique too early. \u201cWhat people see now isn\u2019t what existed when he was eight years old,\u201d Bharucha said in an interaction. He pointed to the way the back-lift has grown in stages, shaped by the improving quality and pace of bowling Sooryavanshi faced as he progressed. In other words, the movement hasn\u2019t simply been copied\u2014it has been refined as the environment has demanded more.<\/p>\n
He also recalled how the Royals looked at specific areas of his game even before the start of the 2025 Indian Premier League. Back then, coaches focused on enhancing his bat speed, and Bharucha explained that the trial group didn\u2019t even feature Sooryavanshi as the quickest swinger of the bat. \u201cInterestingly, at the trial he attended, he didn\u2019t have the fastest bat speed among the group,\u201d Bharucha said. The coaching staff identified the gap early and worked on it consistently for three months, managing to lift his bat speed by roughly another 30%.<\/p>\n
So, what separates the teenager from other promising names climbing through the ranks? Bharucha\u2019s answer leaned less on raw talent and more on timing and temperament. \u201cThat ability to delay commitment\u2014almost suspending time for a fraction longer\u2014is one of the defining traits of elite batting,\u201d he said. For elite batters, the difference often shows up in the narrow moments: when to commit, when to hold back, and when to let the ball reveal what it\u2019s offering.<\/p>\n
Watching Sooryavanshi, the first impression is that his footwork isn\u2019t exaggerated. He tends to stand and deliver, using powerful bat speed paired with a high back-lift. Still, Bharucha stressed that there is a subtle trigger from the backfoot that helps him access the depth of the crease. \u201cA lot of that comes from his loading onto the backfoot and his back-lift,\u201d he said. In Bharucha\u2019s view, the back-lift is more than a visual style; it functions like a built-in depth-perception tool. As the ball comes in, the body, hands, and eyes coordinate to create spatial awareness, allowing Sooryavanshi to judge the ball\u2019s line and movement with confidence.<\/p>\n
Bharucha also described what makes advanced batting so difficult to teach. Great batters don\u2019t just react; they seem to extract extra information from the delivery. \u201cThat is incredibly difficult to teach because it sits at the intersection of vision, timing, balance, and instinct,\u201d he said. Even with Sooryavanshi being younger than some of the franchise\u2019s established senior presences like Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel, the broad training philosophy hasn\u2019t been drastically different. \u201cThere is no radically different magic formula,\u201d Bharucha added. The work is built around breaking batting down into smaller pieces, spotting inefficiencies, and rebuilding technique and decision-making in a way that becomes more repeatable under pressure. The guiding principle remains risk reduction through fault reduction, while also expanding the batter\u2019s scoring options.<\/p>\n
That expansion is visible in Sooryavanshi\u2019s development. Bharucha pointed out that in 2025, his scoring leaned heavily towards shots played on the on-side, but within a year he began showing clearer intent and more effective execution towards the off-side as well. He framed this as a key part of batting growth: adding range while also removing weaknesses and sharpening clarity when the pressure rises. Importantly, Bharucha said the teenager\u2019s routine between IPL seasons hasn\u2019t swung wildly. Over the last couple of years, Sooryavanshi has been hitting roughly a similar number of balls\u2014suggesting progress is being shaped more by refinement and belief than by constant reinvention.<\/p>\n
Bharucha\u2019s long experience with young players comes through in his explanation of what shifts performances. \u201cWith elite sport, people often search for some secret technical breakthrough,\u201d he said. \u201cBut more often than not the biggest shift is belief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what truly changed between Sooryavanshi in 2025 and Sooryavanshi in 2026, Bharucha answered with confidence as the dividing line. \u201cThe difference now is that his confidence has multiplied,\u201d he said. Earlier, Sooryavanshi understood that he could dominate Under-19 bowlers; now he believes the same methods\u2014same tempo and same instincts\u2014can translate against international attacks as well. Bharucha called this internal adjustment \u201cenormous,\u201d noting that talent sets a ceiling while belief is often what helps a player actually reach it.<\/p>\n
Sooryavanshi, Bharucha said, is riding a high phase, but he also expects the inevitable dips that come with any career. The public attention will grow louder, yet Bharucha still feels that after Tendulkar he hasn\u2019t seen another teenager with the same level of clarity. \u201cIn that sense, he reminds me very much of a young Sachin Tendulkar,\u201d Bharucha said, adding that it\u2019s not necessarily about copying a style, but rather the maturity and clarity in how the game is processed. He described a common pattern where some players arrive young in years but old in understanding, and believes Sooryavanshi fits that profile.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Bharucha cautioned against expecting a frictionless journey. It would be unrealistic to imagine Sooryavanshi will be immune to the struggles that every cricketer faces. Failure, scrutiny, and the pressure of expectation are unavoidable parts of sporting life in India. What stands out, though, are qualities beyond raw skill: leadership instincts and cricket intelligence that Bharucha believes look unusually advanced for someone so young. He said Sooryavanshi processes situations quickly and naturally senses what is happening around the game\u2014an ability that often separates promising juniors from consistent performers.<\/p>\n
While some remain skeptical about how a young batter might handle the demands of red-ball cricket, Bharucha doesn\u2019t view that as a problem if selectors decide to challenge him. \u201cSo if the belief is that he has the capability, then there is also an argument that throwing him into the deep end may actually accelerate his learning,\u201d he said. In Bharucha\u2019s opinion, top players often adapt faster against the highest standards because their learning curve sharpens under pressure.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi\u2019s rise has been anything but overnight. When he first turned up for Rajasthan Royals trials, he didn\u2019t have the dramatic back-lift or the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL News: Rajasthan Royals on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi\u2019s Rise","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Rajasthan Royals highlight Vaibhav Sooryavanshi\u2019s steady grind, smart batting and hard work as he grows into a key IPL threat.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n