[WATCH] Kumar Sangakkara recalls first meeting with Vaibhav Suryavanshi before IPL 2025

The Director of Cricket of the Rajasthan Royals, Kumar Sangakkara, has recalled his first meeting with the young opening batter, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, from the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The former left-handed batter of Sri Lanka revealed how he met the Bihar batter for the very first time.

The 14-year-old RR batter came into the playing eleven of the side when their captain, Sanju Samson, was ruled out of the competition. The southpaw smashed 265 runs in eight innings at an average of 33.12 and a strike rate of more than 200, thanks to one fifty and one century in the IPL 2025, with his best score of 101 runs against the Gujarat Titans (GT).

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‘Well, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has already shown himself to be a very special talent. In 2023, one of the Rajasthan Royals’ analyst sent through a text saying, there is a very special player we need to watch, get to trials and look to sign, and the first time I saw him live was after we had signed him apart from some of the videos of him batting was in the nets in Guwahati.’ Sangakkara expressed during a recent interaction on Sky Sports Cricket.

Watch: Kumar Sangakkara recalls Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s first meeting during IPL 2025

‘(He was) batting against Jofra Archer and some of the other pacers, and he made it look very easy. He had a lot of time, and the sound off the bat was like a gunshot. At every single time, he contracted the ball, his bat swing was lovely. It’s nice and wide outside the off-stump, and it’s very free-flowing. He has got a lot of time.’ Sangakkara explained.

'The rise of Vaibhav' 🌟 Rajasthan Royals Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara on his first encounter with the rising star 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/uFPATITFTQ

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 20, 2025

‘His movements are very simple and minimal, and he is very enthusiastic about developing his shot repertoire. And he has all the shots that you can want in a T20 batter. This was just the start of him, and he will become even better and hopefully very special.’ The veteran added about Suryavanshi, who has now been fast-tracked to the India U-19 side for the unofficial Test against England.

If Samson stays with the franchise for the next season and bats at number three, then the Royals can take advantage by using Jaiswal and Suryavanshi at the opening position.