Steve Waugh praises Vaibhav Suryavanshi, wonders how far he could go in cricket

Steve Waugh opened up on the rising batting prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The former Australia legend spoke on the show 'Australian Summer of Cricket 2025-26,' where he said that he could not believe just how well Suryavanshi struck the ball in his epic knock against the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League).

Waugh claimed that a 14-year-old pulling off such a knock was incredible. However, he felt Vaibhav had no pressure and played with freedom. He wondered how Suryavanshi would do when under pressure due to the price tag. Waugh wished Vaibhav luck to succeed and felt it would be great to witness someone as young as Suryavanshi succeed.

"I watched that century and I just couldn't believe how well he struck the ball and how easy he was hitting the sixes and how relaxed he was. As a 14-year-old, he had no concept of pressure, just play with complete freedom, so that was great to watch. I guess for him the challenge will be to keep it under control," Waugh said in the interview, which JioHotstar conducted.

"Can he play the same way with the same enthusiasm, the same freedom as he has done this year? That'll be his challenge. He's got a lot of skill, he's mentally tough, and he's got a great backstory, so you want to see someone like that be successful. It's a great story for cricket and for me watching from a long way away," the former ODI World Cup-winning captain added.

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Waugh praises Vaibhav’s batting brilliance

Furthermore, Steve Waugh claimed that he does not watch IPL a lot due to the time at which Australia get to watch it. However, Waugh praised Vaibhav and claimed that when someone plays a blinder like that, he would love to watch them play.

"I don't get to watch a lot of IPL games because it's probably (in) the wrong time of the day. But then, when someone like that comes along, you want to watch the game so he's a fantastic attraction for the sport," Waugh concluded.