Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lit up the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday with a sensational 101 off 38 balls to help Rajasthan Royals beat Gujarat Titans by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
At 14 years and 32 days old, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to score a century in the IPL and T20 cricket as a whole. After the game, the Royals’ batting coach Vikram Rathour discussed the prodigious teenager’s knock among other things at the post-match press conference.
On Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s century
I thought it was really, really special. We have been watching it in the nets for the past few months. We knew what he was capable of and what kind of shots he could play, but to do it in front of this kind of crowd, in a situation like this and against a really, really good bowling attack, it was really special. A lot of credit to him.
On how Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s generates so much power
As I said, he is a special, special talent and he’s got great down swing, if you want to go into technique, so that helps him generate power and today, he just showed everyone how good he is.
On what makes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi special
I think for a 14-year-old to play like this, that definitely makes him special. We saw him maybe four months back when he came for the trials and from that day onwards all of us knew that we'd found something special and it was. Our job was to nurture him and to bring him to this level. A lot of credit to him, he kept his nerves. He has a solid head on his shoulders, he showed great temperament and kept his nerves.
Describing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s knock in two words
As I said earlier, all the words have been used earlier. Exceptional knock, spectacular knock, the kind of power he generates, the kind of positions he gets into, how cleanly he hits the ball, everything is special about that kid and if he keeps going and working hard, he will have a long, long career in Indian cricket.
On the importance of beating Gujarat Titans
All three games that we lost before this, we were in a position where we should have won all three, actually. We got into winning positions and still managed to lose. That’s how this game goes sometimes, you know. You can’t pinpoint where we lost those games but I thought we played well in all three but it is good to cross the line and win a game like this. There’s always hope. I know every season is important but it's a long term vision as well. We picked a young team and if we can carry on playing like we did today, we have a special team.
On Rajasthan Royals’ playoff chances
We still have four games to go and if we win all four, I am not sure if we can qualify or not. But 14 points can get you into the playoffs sometimes, so fingers crossed at this stage, we’re taking it one game at a time, we are looking to play good cricket and we know we are capable of playing good cricket. And as I said, the last three games which we lost, we did play good cricket. So, it is heartening to win a game like this and from here on, we’re looking to play one game at a time and win.
