Vaibhav Sooryavanshi given a reality check hinting at a tougher IPL season ahead: ‘The novelty has worn off’

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi enters IPL 2026 with heightened expectations after a breakout season.

Updated on: Mar 14, 2026, 14:39:11 IST

Written by Probuddha Bhattacharjee

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Vaibhav Sooryavanhsi heads into the new IPL season in a very different place from where he stood a year ago. Then, he was the fearless teenager breaking into the Rajasthan Royals setup and catching attacks off guard. Now, he walks in as a batter every opponent has seen, studied and started planning for. That shift in context is what gives Robin Uthappa’s latest assessment of the young batter its bite. Vaibhav’s breakout season was impossible to ignore. 252 runs in seven IPL 2025 matches at a strike rate of 206.55, with a 35-ball hundred against the Gujarat Tutans that instantly turned him from prospect into headline material.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for Rajasthan Royals. (X IPL)

Robin Uthappa, speaking on Star Sports, put the situation bluntly. “I have been keenly observing every game Vaibhav is playing over the last 12 months. He is phenomenal. But if you are going to watch him bat, I feel he is riding his luck a little bit. The novelty has worn off. I think that right bow, he is riding that luck a little bit, which is fine. I think this season will be educational for him and will serve him in the long run. He will still score runs, but I don’t think he will be all that he was last year,” said Uthappa.

Also Read: Rajasthan Royals' 'connection with Guwahati' questioned as marquee matches taken out of Jaipur: ‘Never understood story’

Why Uthappa’s warning matters

The significance of what Uthappa has said lies in the timing. Vaibhav is with the Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2026, and the squad composition keeps him firmly in contention as an opener alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. He is not entering this season as a batter with real expectations attached to him.

That is why Uthappa’s line about novelty wearing off is the heart of the statement. He is not questioning Vaibhav’s talent. He is questioning how the next phase usually works in elite cricket. Once bowlers know the zones to attack, once analysts have built patterns around a player, and once surprise is gone, a young batter has to show he can evolve.

So this is less a dismissal of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s talent by Robin Uthappa than a warning wrapped inside praise. He may still score heavily this season. But IPL 2026 could tell a bigger story than his breakout year did - not how destructive he can be when no one is ready for him, but how strong he is once everyone is.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Probuddha Bhattacharjee
Probuddha Bhattacharjee is a sports writer and analyst with expertise spanning cricket, football, and multi-sport events, with a strong emphasis on data-driven journalism and tactical storytelling. He currently focuses on international cricket, the Indian Premier League, global tournaments, and emerging trends shaping modern sport, blending advanced statistics with strong narrative context to explain performance, strategy, and decision-making. His work aims to bridge the gap between numbers and storytelling, helping readers understand not just what happened on the field, but the tactical and structural reasons behind it. Trained in data journalism through the Google News Initiative (GNI) Data Journalism Lab, Probuddha works extensively with ball-by-ball datasets, performance metrics, and trend-based modelling to produce evidence-backed reports, explainers, and long-form features. His analytical approach focuses not only on outcomes but also on process—selection strategies, phase-wise tactics, workload management, and the influence of preparation and planning on match results. He is particularly interested in how statistical patterns reshape conventional cricketing narratives and provide clearer tactical insight for modern audiences. Beyond cricket, Probuddha has written analytical and news-driven pieces on football and other major sporting events, with a growing interest in sports governance, scheduling dynamics, and the economics of elite competitions. He also tracks how rule changes, franchise structures, and broadcast pressures influence the evolution of contemporary sport. He has previously contributed to platforms such as OneCricket, Sportskeeda, and CrickTracker, and continues to specialise in analytical storytelling, live coverage, and audience-focused reporting. His work prioritises clarity, context, and credibility, while consistently exploring innovative ways to present data through accessible narratives and structured match analysis.Read More

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