Rahul Dravid opens up on rationale behind picking 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi at IPL 2025 mega auction
Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player to be picked at an IPL auction after he was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore at the 2025 mega auction. Dravid has opened up on the rationale for picking the 13-year-old batter from Bihar.
Rajasthan Royals picked up a 13-year-old batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi at the IPL 2025 mega auction, making him the youngest-ever player to be signed at any auction in the tournament's history. Suryavanshi, an eighth-standard student from Bihar's Samastipur, has impressed many in his very short career till now and has now become a crorepati after getting picked for Rs 1.10 crore at the two-day auction in Jeddah.
Speaking on the rationale behind signing such a young batter, Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid said that the franchise felt Suryavanshi could get a good environment in RR. "I think he's (Suryavanshi) got some really good skills, so we thought it might be a good environment for him to grow in. Vaibhav just came to our trials and we were really happy with what he saw," said Dravid in an IPL video.
Suryavanshi hogged the limelight recently when he slammed the fastest hundred for the India U19 team in an unofficial Test against Australia U19. He hit a ton in just 58 balls in the clash in Chennai. His ton also made him the youngest batter to record an international century at the age of 13.
He is currently playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Bihar and made 13 from six balls in his only appearance in the tournament against Rajasthan.
Coming to Rajasthan Royals, the 2008 champions bolstered their bowling line-up at the mega auction after retaining the core of their batters. They had retained Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer with Sandeep Sharma being the only bowler in the retention list.
RR bought Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Kewna Maphaka as the major picks in their bowling stocks. Dravid also highlighted that the franchise wanted to rope in bowlers at the auction.
"We came into this auction having retained a lot of our core Indian batsmen. A big target for us in this auction really was bowlers, showing that we did a really strong bowling attack. I think we achieved that," Dravid explained.
"We got some really good bowlers, a couple of really good spinners, backed it up with a really good Indian spinner in Karthikeya. So, having someone like Jofra and his skills and unique skills, backed that up with a couple of left-handers.
"We like the change in angle, like the swing that both Faruqui and Mafaka bring for us. We really enjoyed the whole process, not only just the pure auction. There are ten, nine other teams and they're all really well prepared and all come really well planned. You've got to be able to think on your feet, you've got to have plan A, B, C, D. Yeah, it was quite challenging at times, but it was great fun and I really enjoyed it," he added.