'50 overs bhi nahi khel sakte...': Ex-India star questions Vaibhav Suryavanshi's fitness ahead of U19 tour against England

Following his breakthrough season with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2025, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi got selected in the India U19 squad for their upcoming tour of England. It will comprise of a warm-up 50-over match, five ODIs and two Tests and will commence from June 24.

To say that Suryavanshi had an impressive IPL campaign would be an understatement as the left-hander set the record of the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in the tournament when he reached the three-digit markk against the Gujarat Titans in just 35 deliveries.

Suryavanshi was brilliant for RR in IPL 2025

In a total of seven matches that he played in IPL 2025, Suryavanshi scored 252 runs, maintaining a decent average of 36.00 and an explosive strike-rate of 206.55. The teenage sensation will likely be in the playing XI of the India U19 side which is set to be captained by 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre in the upcoming England series.

However, ahead of arguably Suryavanshi's most important assignment of his career, former India cricketer Yograj Singh has raised eyebrows on his and the side's overall fitness. He stated how the youngsters these days are prioritizing T20 cricket and thus, may fail to bat even for 50 overs during the tour against the Three Lions.

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"My vision is Test cricket. Can you survive five days? That's the real test. 50 overs - fair enough. 20 overs - fair enough. I don't go by these formats. But since they (formats) are there, you should be fit enough to play all three formats. Why do you struggle? Because you are only concentrating on T20, IPL and 50 overs. Aj toh 50 overs bhi nahi khel sakte hum log (Today, we cannot even play 50 overs). That's the way we are," Yograj told InsideSport.

Yograj, father of legendary India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, also took a dig at coaches who rather than sweating it out on the field, work in air-conditioned rooms.

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"All the coaches and all the administrators want to sit in the air conditioning and do things. Here, I am under 48 degrees Celsius, having a passion to produce more brilliant cricketers like Yuvraj Singh," Yograj added.

Notably, Suryavanshi was signed by the Rajasthan-based franchise for a fee of INR 1.1 crore. Though many doubted the teenager at the beginning, he went on to prove all of them wrong with his short but impactful IPL campaign. RR is highly likely to keep the youngster with them for many seasons to come.