Dasun Shanaka used the calm after Rajasthan Royals' 30-run win over Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium to single out 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for praise and to back Riyan Parag as captain ahead of the IPL Eliminator on Wednesday in New Chandigarh.
Shanaka said he had rarely seen a youngster cope with dressing-room pressure the way Sooryavanshi has, calling the teenager very professional and unusually composed whether he succeeds or fails. The all-rounder noted that senior players often heap pressure on rookies, but that Sooryavanshi has not buckled under it.
Those comments arrive after a run of extremes in Sooryavanshi’s IPL 2026 form: two matches before the Wankhede game he exploded for 93 off 38 balls against Lucknow Super Giants, then was dismissed for four in the next match against Mumbai Indians. Shanaka pointed to that sequence when he praised the youngster’s temperament, saying the way he behaves in practice and the dressing room shows a maturity beyond his years.
The numbers help explain the attention. Sooryavanshi, who was picked by Rajasthan Royals in the November 2024 mega auction for Rs 1.1 crore when he was 13, finished the IPL 2026 league phase with 583 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 232 and with 53 sixes — six shy of the tournament’s all-time record. He made his debut in the 2025 season and hit a century that year against Gujarat Titans.
Despite the fireworks in T20, Sooryavanshi’s longer-format record is more modest: he has a first-class average of 17 from eight matches. That contrast — extraordinary power and scoring in the IPL against a lean first-class ledger — is the tension Shanaka’s praise implicitly acknowledges. The Royals’ management and fans must weigh the teenager’s explosive upside against the obvious gaps in his longer-term resume.
Shanaka added that he sees a lot of potential in Sooryavanshi and described him as a very natural youngster with many good things ahead. He also underlined his support for Parag’s leadership, saying the captain sticks to his decisions and that he had discussed leadership matters extensively with him. Shanaka called Parag a very good captain and a leader in the making, and said he himself has taken ideas from Parag even as he passes messages back.
The Royals head into the Eliminator having secured their playoff spot with the victory at Wankhede. Shanaka mentioned that Parag and Ravindra Jadeja had some niggles but were expected to be fine ahead of Wednesday’s match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh, suggesting the squad would head into the knockout match largely intact.
The immediate question for Rajasthan is straightforward: which version of Sooryavanshi will show up in the Eliminator — the hitter who amassed 93 off 38 or the batter who fell for four in the follow-up game? Shanaka’s public endorsement frames the answer he wants to see: a player who remains unfazed by highs and lows and who can be relied on in a high-stakes knockout.
Shanaka’s words amount to more than praise; they are a signal about how the Royals expect to manage young talent under playoff pressure. If Sooryavanshi carries his IPL 2026 form into the Eliminator, his six-hitting and electric strike rate will again dominate headlines. If not, the question of converting raw power into consistent top-level performance — especially given his first-class numbers — will become the defining story of his very early career.
For now, Shanaka has put his voice behind both the teenager and his captain. Rajasthan heads to New Chandigarh with a secured playoff place, a short injury list and a spotlight on a 15-year-old whose season has already rewritten expectations for what a debutant can do in the IPL.
