IPL 2025: The young baby’s coach named Manish Ojha recalls it all with Honorary Parent Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi reached a huge milestone on his IPL debut at just 14 years old; he simply hit huge sixes in Jaipur.
At the tender age of 14 years and 23 days, Vaibhav Suryavanshi did remarkably well in his very first inning when he opened for Rajasthan Royals against Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025: a shot-a-ball 34 before settling in for a few big sixes. All this sudden exuberance left cricket lovers quite in awe, including Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai.
Vaibhav debuted at a very young age of a mere 12 years and 284 days when he made his first-class debut representing Bihar in the Ranji Trophy, making him one of the youngest players ever to have taken the field in the history of the competition.
He also created records at the tender age of 13 when he became the youngest Indian to debut in List A cricket withthe Vijay Hazare Trophy. An Under-19 Test against Australia saw Suryavanshi impressively scoring a century in 58 balls, embroidery creating in the books India’s fastest century in the format.
And when the grand stage happened to be at IPL, Vaibhav stayed true to himself. Just a few minutes into the tournament in Jaipur, the sheer belief that the southpaw has about himself came forth: he struck the first ball into a massive six.
Giving himself a bit of space, scooped a line ball sent down by Shardul Thakur way above the cover.
“You people saw power in his shot, I saw the body position, bat swing and perfect timing,” said his coach, Manish Ojha, speaking to PTI news agency. “If power were the only criterion to hit sixes, then wrestlers would be playing cricket.”
Everyone kept looking with wonder at Vaibhav’s fearlessness. The weight of each of his three sixes behind showed very well that he is a generational talent. But those who followed the course of his journey would say this was the least expected moment.
“Five years of training, playing in 600 balls every day,” Ojha merely said.
“Other boys at academies would play maybe 50 balls a day. I’ve uploaded around 40 videos of Vaibhav’s training sessions on YouTube. You’ll see his bat swing is like Yuvraj Singh.”
Foundations were laid early on. “His father Sanjiv brought him to me when he was eight years of age,” Ojha said. “Every child is different, but even then, his stance, back-lift, execution, and intent – the four pillars – were always in sync.”
UNLESS THE FATHER PACKS THE TIFFIN FOR THE NET BOWLERS
Besides talent, Vaibhav’s rise has to an extent been possible due to perseverance and the combined efforts of many, his parents being among them-they would stop at nothing in supporting the career of their son.
“The parents are great. His father would travel 100 km up and down every alternate day for the matches,” said Ojha.
“When Vaibhav worked extra hours, Sanjiv ji would pack for 10 boys: one for Vaibhav and nine for all the net bowlers who would bowl extra for him. You can understand how much it would cost to arrange food for 10 boys every alternate day. But they were convinced that cricket was his calling, so they put in everything,” he added.
After several weeks of preparing with the Rajasthan Royals setup, facing speedy sidearm throwdowns designed to imitate the match pace of world-class IPL attacks, Vaibhav was unleashed. His fearlessness against Avesh Khan and remaining defiant before being stumped by Rishabh Pant attested to the success of that training.
Vaibhav trained with his Royals counterparts ahead of the IPL 2025, including high-speed throwdowns and the rigours of pre-season training. Head coach Rahul Dravid and Zubin Bharucha ensured that Vaibhav was treated no differently – he faced 150-plus kmph throwdowns from side-arm experts just like everyone else.
Vaibhav has had an amazing start to his IPL career, and all indications now are that this teenager will become one of the brightest young talents in the country.
Read also : IPL 2025: 14-Year-Old Vaibhav Suryavanshi Smashes 35-Ball Hundred, World Record
