Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa believes teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been ‘riding his luck a bit’, saying the upcoming IPL 2026 won’t be as successful for him as last year. Uthappa predicted
that with a ‘higher’ standard, Sooryavanshi would realise that his ‘novelty has worn off’, which would make the league season more ‘educational’ and something he’d need to learn from for his career.
Sooryavanshi broke dozens of records when he made his debut for Rajasthan Royals at 14 years of age, scoring 252 runs at a league-high strike rate of 206.55, including a sensational 35-ball century against one of the league’s best bowling attacks, Gujarat Titans. Since then, he has played and won an Under-19 World Cup for India, while also making his debut for multiple domestic teams for Bihar.
“I have been keenly observing every game Vaibhav is playing over the last 12 months,” Uthappa said on Star Sports. “He is phenomenal. But if you are going to watch him bat, I feel he is riding his luck a little bit. And when the standard gets a little bit higher, little tougher, and people now know where to bowl to him. The novelty has worn off. I think that right now, he is riding that luck a little bit, which is fine. I think this season will be educational for him and will serve him in the long run. He will still score runs, but I don’t think he will be all that he was last year,” he added.
But on the same show, his former India teammate Irfan Pathan disagreed.
“Even after the IPL, you maintain the same run wherever you play, and that is where he gives me a lot of confidence. If it were up and down here, then I would be afraid. I really think he will make another fast half-century minimum, or even a century,” Pathan said of the superstar kid who scored 175 off just 80 balls in the Under-19 World Cup final against England.
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