Rajasthan Royals will thrust Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into the spotlight when he opens the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal this season but captain Riyan Parag is keen to shield the teenage prodigy from the media glare as much as possible.
Rajasthan begin their new Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign against five-time champions Chennai in Guwahati on March 30 and all eyes will be on Sooryavanshi, who turns 15 next week, following his sensational IPL debut last season.
Replacing an injured Sanju Samson in the second half of the tournament, Sooryavanshi hit the first IPL ball he faced for a six against Lucknow Super Giants, and smashed a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans in another match.
Sooryavanshi was also the architect of India’s victory at the under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia earlier this year. The left-hander smashed 175 off 80 balls in the final against England and ended the tournament with a record 30 sixes.
With last season’s skipper Samson moving to Chennai Super Kings, Sooryavanshi will remain the opening partner of India batter Jaiswal, who would absorb the pressure at the top of the order, Parag said.
“This year, there will be hype and pressure naturally, but as a captain, I will tell him (Sooryavanshi) to let Yashasvi Jaiswal take the pressure,” Parag told reporters on Thursday.
“Jaiswal is more than capable of handling that. For Vaibhav, the role will be just to go, hit, and not to worry.”
Sooryavanshi, who scored at a 206-plus strike rate last season, has recently said he was targeting Chris Gayle’s 175 not out for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which remains the IPL’s highest individual score.
Parag said he would try to keep Sooryavanshi away from media assignments and let him focus on playing his natural game.
“As a captain, I will tell him not to do many press conferences, not interact with the media much, just enjoy,” Parag said.
(Reuters)
