Rajasthan Royals and former India head coach Rahul Dravid opened up on the attention around Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The 14-year-old smashed a 35-ball century during the team's last outing against the Gujarat Titans at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Dravid believes that the youngster needs a strong support unit around him and agreed that a young player like him would have a share of success and failure.
He further explained that players like Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kamlesh Nagakoti, and others, and noted how some players need time to prove themselves while others don't.
"I’ve seen talented youngsters in my time—Pant, Shubman, Jaiswal, Nagarkoti, Khaleel. Some journeys go really well; for others, it takes longer," Dravid said.
"You cannot entirely avoid criticism or media attention around him. I don’t think you can control everything, and I believe you have to accept that. The idea is to help him navigate it and build a strong support system around him. It's a part of becoming a cricketer in India—you have to handle it. We all recognise that he will have some success and some failure," Dravid said via JioStar Press Room.
Dravid praised Vaibhav Suryavanshi's ability to pull the ball with enough power. He claimed that Suryavanshi could do well in the IPL by working a bit on his batting.
"What gives Vaibhav his power is his hand speed, his very high backlift, and how quickly he adjusts to length. You notice with Vaibhav that he picks up anything fractionally short or anything he can pull. He naturally has the power to play those shots. We felt that with a little bit of work, he could do really well in this tournament," the Indore-born added.
Dravid also revealed how he worked with Vaibhav for 3–4 months before the IPL 2025 auctions. Dravid revealed that the 14-year-old got a chance to work with RR's support staff and coaches, and the players from the Indian cricket team.
"We had three or four camps over three to four months leading into the tournament. He was getting to know the support staff and the coaches. He met all the Indian players and the backroom staff, and we were very clear that he needed to feel comfortable once the full squad arrived," he concluded on the matter.
Vaibhav will now be seen in action during RR's upcoming Indian Premier League clash against Mumbai Indians (MI), which is scheduled to take place on May 1 at the same venue.