Published: Mar 16, 2026, 01:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 16, 2026, 01:22 PM (IST)
India’s T20 World Cup-winning wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson shared a funny story from the Rajasthan Royals camp about young batting talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and former head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of the 14-year-old’s IPL debut last season.
Sooryavanshi had an impressive first IPL season, scoring 252 runs in just 7 matches at a strike rate of 206.56. His best knock came against the Gujarat Titans – a stunning 101 off 38 balls, reaching his century in only 35 deliveries.
During the BCCI Annual Awards, Sooryavanshi was asked if he remembered his first talk with Dravid and then-captain Samson before his debut. Before he could answer, Samson jumped in with the hilarious details.
“I was actually in a meeting at the time. Rahul Sir called him into the room and told me, ‘Sanju, we need to talk to him. He’s just a young kid; we need to guide him on how to go about things.’ So Rahul Sir asked him, ‘Vaibhav, what’s the plan?’ Vaibhav replied, ‘Kuch nahi sir, hum to khelenge. (Nothing special, Sir. I’ll just play). Then he asked ‘What is your game plan?’ and Vaibhav was like ‘Agar hume agar pehla mila to hum pehla hi uda denge (If I get the first ball, I’m just going to smash it), and I was like yeh alag video game hi khel raha hai (He is playing a completely different video game),” Samson recalled the moment.
The story brought loud laughter from everyone in the hall – even the usually calm Rahul Dravid couldn’t stop smiling.
On April 19, 2025, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi made an incredible IPL debut for the Rajasthan Royals against the Lucknow Super Giants, making history as the league’s youngest player aged 14 years and 23 days. He memorably struck his first IPL delivery for a six while scoring 34 off 20 balls (three sixes, two fours).
The awards ceremony on Sunday night was attended by BCCI office bearers, former secretary and current ICC Chairman Jay Shah, and winning players from five recent ICC titles – the U19 Men’s World Cup, U19 Women’s World Cup, Champions Trophy, Women’s ODI World Cup, and Men’s T20 World Cup.
The biggest highlights were the Lifetime Achievement honours given to legends Rahul Dravid, Roger Binny (1983 World Cup winner and former BCCI president), and Mithali Raj.
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