“You Can’t Coach That”- Rahul Dravid Lauds U19 Prodigy’s Exceptional Mindset After IPL 2025

Former India skipper Rahul Dravid showered praise on young talent Vaibhav Suryavanshi for his remarkable showing in IPL 2025. Dravid, who served as the head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR) during the season, had the 14-year-old prodigy under his guidance.

Suryavanshi made a strong impression in his debut IPL campaign with a series of outstanding performances. Rahul Dravid highlighted that it was the youngster’s mindset, rather than just his skills, that truly set him apart, a quality he believes cannot be taught or coached.

“It’s not the skill the skill he has right but it’s a mindset and you can’t really teach that mindset you can’t coach that mindset so when you have someone with that mindset you got to you know I think manage it and own it you can’t certainly not curb it I think as a coach it’s not so much about instructing him but giving him the platform and the freedom to express himself and creating a certain sense of difficulties in the nets or creating different situations,” he said on ‘Breakfast with Champions’.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi displayed a fearless approach in his batting. As an opener, he consistently provided Rajasthan Royals with strong starts throughout IPL 2025. He made his debut against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and immediately made an impact by hitting his first delivery for a six off Shardul Thakur.

“I think to someone like that, you’re actually sort of the thing you’re trying to tell him is to just explore the edges of his talent, right? It’s incredible. But I think that gift of like mindset, right? that freedom, first ball in the IPL to be able to hit Shardul Thakur for six, I mean, Shardul is an international bowler, he’s a terrific bowler,” he added.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi Shines On IPL Debut

Vaibhav Suryavanshi featured in seven matches during his debut IPL season and made a strong impression by scoring 252 runs at an average of 36. Although the total may not appear very high, it was his fearless and attacking style of play under pressure, especially at such a young age on a big stage, that captured attention.

He maintained an exceptional strike rate of 206.55, registering one century and one half-century. His standout performance came against the Gujarat Titans (GT), where he smashed 101 runs off just 38 balls, including seven fours and 11 sixes, at a strike rate of 265.78. His blistering knock helped Rajasthan Royals chase down a daunting 210-run target in only 15.5 overs.