Rahul Dravid Raises Questions Over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s Test Future

NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s ascent in white‑ball cricket has been swift. The 15‑year‑old left‑hander has already represented India and made an impact on the international stage.

Sooryavanshi ended IPL 2026 as Rajasthan Royals’ top run‑scorer with 776 runs, and followed it up with a blistering 94 off 29 balls against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the List A tri‑series final in Colombo. He made his senior ODI debut against England in July and impressed on a subsequent tour of Zimbabwe, finishing as the series top scorer with 151 runs and earning the Player of the Series award. In six T20I innings he has netted 193 runs at an exceptional strike rate of 189.21.

Test Ambitions Face a Scheduling Hurdle

Former India head coach Rahul Dravid, who worked with Sooryavanshi at Rajasthan Royals, believes the teenager has the talent to succeed in Test cricket. However, he warns that the biggest obstacle may be finding sufficient time to develop in domestic red‑ball cricket.

“With Vaibhav, you’ve got to be patient. He’s only 15, and from what I’ve seen there’s no doubt that, given the chance to practise and play domestic cricket and a couple of seasons of red‑ball cricket, he can hold his own in a Test team. Whether he can break into the XI amid the current performers is a different, trickier question,” Dravid told JioHotstar.

Dravid’s concern is not about ability but about availability. “Whether he’ll have the time to play two full seasons of domestic cricket because he’ll be so busy playing for India in the white‑ball format – I’m not sure about that. Skill‑wise, I think there’s no problem; the schedule issue could be a bit more tricky,” he added.

Early Red‑Ball Contributions in the Duleep Trophy

Sooryavanshi had a modest outing with the bat in East Zone’s Duleep Trophy quarter‑final against North East Zone, scoring eight runs from six deliveries before being dismissed by Bishworjit Konthoujam.

He quickly compensated with the ball, taking two wickets in just four deliveries and demonstrating his all‑round potential.

His first‑class wicket came in the 28th over. Bowling a three‑quarter‑length delivery outside off stump, he induced Kishan Lyngdoh to charge and produce a leading edge; substitute fielder Denish Das completed the catch.

Three deliveries later, Sooryavanshi struck again. A well‑length ball around off stump drew a defensive inside‑edge from Imliwati Lemtur, which Ishan Kishan taken cleanly behind the stumps.

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