Ashwin backs RR's Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to play for India in all formats

R Ashwin praised RR's 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, calling him a 'box-office player' who could represent India in all formats. He also criticised RR's 'ordinary' performance and poor bowling execution in their loss against GT.

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on Rajasthan Royals (RR) rising sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and said he would not mind seeing the teenage batter represent India across all three formats in the future.

Ashwin made the remarks on JioHotstar after the Royals suffered a 77-run defeat against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash in Jaipur on Saturday night.

Ashwin on 'Box-Office Player' Sooryavanshi

Praising the 15-year-old's fearless batting approach, Ashwin described Suryavanshi as a "box-office player" capable of entertaining crowds with his aggressive strokeplay. "He is leaving no stone unturned, putting every ounce of force he can into the cricket ball. The way he played, even in the U-19 World Cup final, putting everything together, he is looking like a box-office player," JioStar expert Ashwin said.

The former Indian cricketer said Suryavanshi should be allowed to enjoy his cricket without being burdened with excessive expectations at a young age. "There are very few windows in your cricketing career where you can absolutely enjoy your cricket, and he is only 15 years old. I think we should just let him be. There is no point asking him to do things he shouldn't be doing at this stage of his career," he added.

Ashwin also pointed out that the Rajasthan Royals have enough experienced players in the batting line-up to support the youngster. "He has experienced players like Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Donovan Ferreira to follow. He shouldn't be the one carrying that burden. If he can give them flying starts, then with the batting line-up they have, they should be winning games like those comfortably," Ashwin said.

Highlighting the teenager's attacking mindset, Ashwin said Suryavanshi possesses the qualities to succeed across formats for India. "He is taking every bowler down. I wouldn't mind watching him in a Test match, and I wouldn't mind watching him in all three formats of the game. Get him onto cricket grounds, get people coming along, because he is going to entertain you," he added.

'Ordinary Performance' by Rajasthan Royals

On his views on the RR vs GT clash, Ashwin felt the Royals handed the Titans an above-par total through poor execution and questionable bowling plans. "If GT ever needed a game in this IPL to get right up there at the top of the table, this was it. And when you have a game like this, as Rajasthan Royals did, I think they will have their task cut out in the remaining three games," Ashwin said.

The former India off-spinner termed the Royals' overall display "ordinary" and criticised the side's bowling execution. "That was a very ordinary performance. It was bizarre at times, with some strange bowling plans and poor execution. They just didn't have anything going for them," he added.

Ashwin felt Gujarat capitalised fully on the opportunities provided by Rajasthan and said the 229-run total was beyond the hosts once the chase began. "GT is a very good team, and they have a great bowling attack, but that's not a side that makes 230. I felt that it was given on a platter by RR. And once GT got that score, I don't think RR had enough in the tank to chase it down," Ashwin said. (ANI)

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