'Best player I've ever seen' - Jos Buttler hails 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi after IPL 2025 heroics

Jos Buttler was amazed by Vaibhav Suryavanshi's skills as the 14-year-old had a stellar maiden season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which concluded on June 3.

Suryavanshi was roped in by Rajasthan Royals (RR), Buttler's previous franchise, for INR 1.10 crore. Fans thought that he would be on the bench this season or only get a couple of games, as the team management would want to groom him for the future. However, the wonder kid played in seven games and amassed 252 runs at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 206.56.

Suryavanshi became a household name when he smashed a 35-ball century against Buttler's Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The former England white-ball captain described the knock as outrageous, pointing out how the southpaw put international bowlers like Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Sira, and Rashid Khan to the sword. Buttler also mentioned Suryavanshi's knock against Chennai Super Kings, where he smashed 57 off 33 balls. This win helped Rajasthan avoid finishing at the foot of the table.

"The innings against us, a 35-ball hundred, was just outrageous. Our (GT) bowling consists of Mohammed Siraj, a brilliant international bowler, Prasidh Krishna, an international bowler, and Rashid Khan, the best T20 bowler there is. And he (Suryavanshi) hit big sixes," Buttler said, speaking on the 'For The Love Of Cricket' podcast alongside Stuart Broad.

"He played an innings against Chennai Super Kings a couple of matches later, and I was watching on TV. CSK have seasoned pros like R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but Suryavanshi went bang! And then he knocked one out to cover, like 'I'm so in control, I'll just take one now'. At that moment, I thought this guy was the best player I've ever seen. I was so blown away," Buttler said.

Suryavanshi made his debut against Lucknow Super Giants on April 19 and hit a six off the first ball he faced, bowled by Shardul Thakur.

Buttler applauded Suryavanshi's fearless approach to the game and compared his bat swing to stalwarts like Yuvraj Singh and Brian Lara.

"He actually hit his first ball for six in the IPL. He sort of gave himself a bit of room and smacked it over wide long off for a six. He had that fearlessness. There are so many brilliant players, they almost want to make a statement, as in 'look at me'," Buttler said.

"We have to try and ask him how long before that happened did you think 'I'm going to try and hit my first ball for six'. Because it was a premeditated shot. He looked for it. People have seen him with this amazing bat swing. Bit like, it's a huge statement, Yuvraj Singh or Brian Lara," Buttler added.