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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi left RR speechless, immediately grabbed franchise’s attention after freak show: ‘Best since Sachin’
Two men who were responsible for bringing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to the Rajasthan Royals recall a fascinating tale.
It’s funny to think that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has yet to make his debut for India, yet his stories are already reaching legendary status. Zubin Bharucha, the former RR director of cricket, has revealed how the franchise had reserved ₹10 crore the moment their scouts saw him bat in trials. Some liken him to artificial intelligence, claiming he might be using a chip in his bat, while others, like Jos Buttler, joke that he may not even be human. Say what you may, but he is only a 15-year-old after all. That said, the world has rarely witnessed such promise since the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar in the late 1980s.
Still, stories about Sooryavanshi continue to fascinate. Two men who played a key role in shaping his journey recount how it all came together. Samar Qadri, a former first-class cricketer for Jharkhand and Bihar and a talent scout for Rajasthan Royals, still remembers the day he first heard of Sooryavanshi and recalls being blown away when he bowled to the 13-year-old.
“I had seen him in Patna. I was playing a match and had heard a lot about him. ‘There’s a boy, there’s a kid who plays amazingly well. So I got to see him when I bowled to him. And I saw the talent there because I am a leg-spinner who knows how to bowl to left-handers. And he whacked me over the covers. That was amazing. Those skills were amazing,” he said on Wisden Cricket.
“I got a chance to scout in 2023. Zubin sir asked me to do it. I told him ‘Sir, there’s a boy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, from Bihar. You should look at him. He’s terrific. He went to Chennai. Many scouts were there, and he scored 150-plus in just 60 balls. He is a kid. He likes to enjoy himself and has a very calm demeanour. Doesn’t show off. Sky is the limit. He can play for the Indian team for at least 20 years. That’s my prediction. He enjoys red-ball cricket. You can’t say he can’t succeed. He told me so. ‘Fielders are up. I can hit the ball wherever I want’
Bharucha’s POV
But perhaps the most engaging story came from Bharucha, who still gets goosebumps recalling the day the youngster arrived for RR trials. One glimpse of him, and he knew he was watching a generational talent. Bharucha decided to test him further, and that was when the youngster left him speechless.
“It’s absolutely surreal. Interestingly, if I go back to a lot of great players that I have worked with and seen, Sanju Samson, for example, played the first ball for six. Jaiswal flicked it over his shoulder, and then Vaibhav walked in. This was the first ball again, but the ball before that, there was a right-hander on strike. And this left-arm seamer was bowling sharp inswingers. Vaibhav then came on strike. I thought he would be tested, challenged, or beaten. The next ball, things unfurled in front of me when the next ball was hammered for six. I was like I am not sure this is normal,” Bharucha told Wisden Cricket.
“In my mind, I knew there was something strange going on here. The trial ended, and what I did was – I didn’t have any express pace bowlers – sent everybody away, and quietly called him back. We had some side-armers who were tall and quick. I wanted them to test Vaibhav and told him, ‘Go at him. Let him have it’. He left 3-4 balls and smacked the next one into the sight screen. I knew straightaway that we’ve got something completely generational here. He’s the best player I have seen since Sachin Tendulkar.”
A few weeks prior, RR had announced their retentions, with Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal headlining at ₹18 crore each. They struck gold with Sooryavanshi, securing him for just ₹1.1 crore, as in just a year, he has emerged as the poster boy of Indian cricket.
