[WATCH] Vaibhav Suryavanshi reveals chat with Sanju Samson, Rahul Dravid ahead of IPL debut

Young prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi caught everyone's attention with his IPL debut in 2025, where he represented the Rajasthan Royals in a match against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Suryavanshi wasn't supposed to be the first-choice opener for the franchise in the season, but injury to skipper Sanju Samson came as a blessing in disguise for the then 13-year-old.

Samson, who knew that Suryavanshi's debut had come his way, asked the youngster alongside the then head coach Rahul Dravid on what the Bihar-born cricketer will do on his debut in the cash-rich tournament, where the stakes are always high. Suryavanshi revealed that his intention was to fire from the word 'go' if the ball lands in his arc. 

“On the eve of the match, Sanju bhaiya and Dravid sir called me. They asked me, ‘What’s your plan?’ I told them, If I get the ball in my area, I’ll smash it,” Suryavanshi revealed at the BCCI Naman Awards.

Suryavanshi kept his word and smashed his debut ball in the IPL for a six, as he charged down experienced pacer like Shardul Thakur for a huge six over the long-off region, marking an unforgettable start to his career.

“Dravid, sir, invited him to his room. He told me, ‘Sanju, we have to talk to him; he’s a very young kid. We have to tell him how to go about it.’ So Rahul sir asked, ‘Vaibhav, what is the plan?’ He replied, ‘Koi plan nahin hai, sir; hum toh khelenge.’ He asked again, ‘What is your game plan?’ He replied, ‘Agar humme pehla milla toh hum pehla hi udda denge.’ That’s exactly what he did, actually. We thought, it’s like he’s playing a video game,” Samson said.

Later in IPL 2025, Suryavanshi had also smashed a century off just 35 balls, which not only made him the youngest to score a ton in the IPL but also set a record for the second-fastest hundred in the tournament's history.