'Every time he hits the ball, it stays hit' - Awestruck Abhinav Mukund extols Vaibhav Suryavanshi's skills

Published - 21 May 2025, 17:39 IST | Updated - 21 May 2025, 17:53 IST

Former India opener Abhinav Mukund was in awe of Vaibhav Suryavanshi's skills after the 14-year-old showed a different side of his batting in Rajasthan Royals' (RR) last game of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, May 20.

Suryavanshi established himself as a destructive batter inside the powerplay, looking to score as many runs as possible and getting the inaugural champions off to a blazing start. However, on Tuesday, he faced only seven balls in the powerplay and scored 11 runs. After the field restrictions were lifted, Suryavanshi found the gaps in the outfield to hit some stunning boundaries. He also took CSK spinners Noor Ahmad and Ravindra Jadeja to the cleaners, exhibiting his freakish power game.

"It was a display of maturity because he hardly got many balls in the powerplay. There were some questions about his gameplay against spin, and today he showcased the fact that in spite of getting so few balls—three or four in the powerplay—he was able to accelerate post that. To bat at that strike rate afterwards and take on Noor and Jadeja, I thought it was an impressive innings," said Mukund on JioHotstar.

Suryavanshi was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin after scoring 57 runs off 33 balls, belting four fours and as many sixes. Mukund highlighted the Bihar batter's ability to hit towering sixes at such a young age. The cricketer-turned-expert said that the southpaw can become a future star of Indian cricket.

"And every time he hits the ball, it stays hit. These aren't small sixes—this boy hits 80–90-meter sixes at just 14 years old. I think this guy is definitely one for the future of Indian cricket,” Mukund stated.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi opens up on handling growing IPL fame

Suryavanshi finished his maiden IPL 2025 campaign with 252 runs from seven innings at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 206.56.

RR won the toss and opted to field first. CSK scored 187/8 after being reduced to 78/5 in the eighth over. Akash Madhwal was the pick of the bowlers for RR as he finished with figures of 3/29. Ayush Mhatre top-scored with a 20-ball 43 for the five-time champions.

In reply, Yashasvi Jaiswal (36), Sanju Samson (41), and Dhruv Jurel (31*) played handy knocks to back up Suryavanshi's half-century as RR won by six wickets with 17 balls to spare.