IPL 2025: RR head coach Rahul Dravid says, 'You cannot entirely avoid criticism or media attention around Vaibhav Suryavanshi'

Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Rahul Dravid does not wish to put too much focus on 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi after his record hundred in IPL but at the same time, he is aware that it is something he cannot do anything about as well.

“I think it won’t be possible to completely sort of avoid him from the experience that is around him. I can’t control what people are talking about him. I have come to this interaction and all I have heard is questions about Vaibhav,” said Dravid when asked about protecting the youngster from the hysteria around him,” during Star Sports Press Room with Rajasthan Royals' head coach.

“It is going to be challenging for him but it is exciting at the same time. I would love to say that we should not shower him with that much attention. Maybe I am being naive as that it is not going to happen. Recognising that it happens and putting a certain level of support around that and navigate that attention and allow him space to be a youngster. It is part of being a cricketer in this country, it is impossible to distance yourself from and (you tend to get) sucked into it,” Dravid added.

Ahead of their match against Mumbai Indians on Thursday (May 1), Rahul Dravid talked about the steps taken by the franchise prior to the season in order to make the young kid feel at home and how the support staff has been with the left-hand batter throughout.

"He has been very welcomed in this environment. One of the things we've tried to do is to just make him feel like he's integrated well into this environment. So, even after the auction, we had quite a few, three or four camps, short-duration camps nearly every month leading into this tournament. Vaibhav was there in every one of those camps, getting to know the players, getting to know the support staff, getting to know the coaches," said Dravid.

"By the time he came to the IPL, we wanted him to go and have met nearly each and every one of the players. Of course, not the four foreign players because he was meeting them for the first time. But certainly, all the Indian players he had met, he had known, he had met all the coaches, he had met all the admin support staff, everyone."

"So, I think around the system, we were very clear that we wanted him to feel comfortable by the time he came here. I'm sure he's having conversations and he's learning from each and every one of those guys, whether it's Jaiswal or whether it's Parag or whether it's Jurel or Sanju. He's a shy boy and obviously, he'll take some time to open up. But I think he's very comfortable here. At no stage, he feels like he's intimidated or he's holding back. So, I think there's been a bit of an effort gone into trying to ensure that we make him feel comfortable around the group," added the Royals' head coach.

Rahul Dravid, Rajasthan Royals head coach now, observed that the responsibility of handling young Suryavanshi, the now youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket, entails both thrilling and daunting elements for Indian cricket, something which he acknowledged has taken topmost space in his mind.

“What can we do for Vaibhav? I think it's going to be challenging. Right just from this very interview I've come, every single question I've been asked has been about Vaibhav, right? So, I mean, it's exactly the thoughts that it's going on in the top of my head that this is going to be challenging for him and for the kid.”

“I mean, it's going to be challenging. But it's also exciting. I think it's going to be exciting as well as it's going to be challenging. I think, again, I would love to say that, maybe we should not shower him with that much attention and that much focus. But maybe I'm being naive and maybe I'm not being realistic because maybe that is going to happen.”

“So like I said earlier, maybe it's just a question of putting a bit of a support system around him and trying to help him navigate that as best as he possibly can, because as I can see here, all I've heard is questions only about Vaibhav, right?” said Dravid.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi has stunned with his hitting abilities against pace. Notably, he hit his first ball of the IPL over the fence for a six off Shardul Thakur, a season campaigner. Dravid described why Vaibhav stands out. He said, "What gives Vaibhav his power is his hand speed, his very high backlift, and how quickly he adjusts to length. You notice with Vaibhav that he picks up anything fractionally short or anything he can pull. He naturally has the power to play those shots. We felt that with a little bit of work, he could do really well in this tournament," Dravid signed off.