"He will probably beat Sachin's record" - Former England captain's massive claim about Vaibhav Suryavanshi amid 14-year-old's IPL 2025 exploits

Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan has made a massive prediction on Vaibhav Suryavanshi's playing future amid his IPL 2025 exploits. Vaughan reckons the 14-year-old will end up breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record of being the youngest Indian Test debutant, with the latter doing so at the age of 16.

Suryavanshi has taken IPL 2025 by storm as he smashed a six off the first ball he faced and made a 20-ball 34 on his debut. However, the highlight arguably was when he smashed a 35-ball ton against the Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadioum in Jaipur earlier this week, helping the Rajasthan Royals win in a canter while chasing 210.

Speaking on the Club Prairie Pire Podcast, Vaughan cautioned against rushing Suryavanshi at the highest level. The 50-year-old stated that playing in the IPL is plenty of pressure already and that the youngster should be allowed some freedom. He said:

"They got to be very careful. India play that much white-ball cricket that it can overlap with the Test team at times. There will be opportunities. My advice would be, do not rush him. Just let him play. IPL is a lot of pressure enough, just let him enjoy for a while.

"We are all going to see him play for India, it's just a case of whether he will be 14, 15, or 16. I've a feeling he will probably beat Sachin's record to play for India. But I wouldn't be rushing him."

A few days after his record-breaking hundred, the left-hander fell for a two-ball duck against the Mumbai Indians.

"You don't really want to panic with someone so young" - Shane Bond on Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Shane Bond (Image Credits: Getty)

Ahead of the Royals' match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, bowling coach Shane Bond hailed Suryavanshi's talent but is okay with him making mistakes, given he has plenty of time to learn. Bond said, as quoted by PTI:

"He's sort of got a bit of a licence to go out and just play, which he's done an amazing job so far, really, for a 14-year-old. I think the coaching staff haven't tried to complicate things too much with Vaibhav. He missed out in the last game, but for us, you don't really want to panic with someone so young.

"He's obviously a seriously talented player, but he's also still a kid, you know. So, he's sort of learning on the go. We're going to be really patient with him, because you have to be."

The Royals are out of the playoff race in IPL 2025 due to losing eight out of 10 matches.