Sooryavanshi became the talk of the town after making his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals at the age of 14 in 2025 and breaking several records. He continued his scintillating form in the 2026 season, finishing as the tournament’s highest run-scorer. Former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid has a piece of advice for batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi , who is set to feature in the upcoming Duleep Trophy. His impressive performances earned him an international call-up, and he subsequently made his senior India debut against England.
Former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid has a piece of advice for batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is set to feature in the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
Dravid, who served as Rajasthan Royals’ head coach during the 2025 IPL season, played a key role in Sooryavanshi’s emergence in the league.
And I think it is a great thing that Vaibhav is getting the experience of playing some white-ball cricket through the IPL in India, but he is also having the time to go back and play red-ball cricket in the Indian domestic system and grow his red-ball career,” Dravid said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo . “All of us also want to see Tests survive, all of us want to see Tests grow and we need players like him to be able to hopefully play all formats of the game,” he added. He hasn’t played as much red-ball cricket as probably white-ball cricket,” Dravid said.
As Sooryavanshi prepares to showcase his talent in red-ball cricket, Dravid stressed the importance of maintaining a balance across all formats for a player’s overall development. “I think you always have to find that balance. He added that regular exposure to red-ball cricket would further enhance the youngster’s game. “The good thing is he is going to take some time, he is going to need some experience, he is going to get an opportunity to play a lot of red-ball cricket.
