‘I don’t think he will ever get professional’: Vaibhav Suryavanshi receives harsh criticism ahead of IPL 2026
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘I don’t think he will ever get professional’: Vaibhav Suryavanshi receives harsh criticism ahead of IPL 2026")
Vaibhav Suryavanshi receives harsh criticism from India keeper ahead of IPL 2026 Photograph: (Others)
Is Vaibhav Suryavanshi professional enough? While AB de Villiers praises the RR star's maturity, Jitesh Sharma reveals concerns over the teenager's off-field habits ahead of IPL 2026.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi could soon break into the senior team, but is he professional enough? Perhaps not! India keeper-batter and former RCB gloveman Jitesh Sharma said that, regardless of the talent that Vaibhav possesses and the maturity he has for his age, he is not professional, adding he doesn’t give the impression that he ever will be.
Vaibhav has made the right noises in world cricket with his whirlwind knocks over the past year. Be it for his IPL team, the Rajasthan Royals, for whom he made his debut in 2025, or India’s Under-19 white-ball units, Sooryavanshi has delivered with each passing game.
Playing only his third IPL game for RR last year, the left-handed opener, who broke the internet with his first-ball six on his IPL debut earlier, smashed a 35-ball hundred against the Gujarat Titans, breaking multiple records. While he became the youngest centurion in the tournament's history, Vaibhav also shattered Yusuf Pathan’s long-standing record for the fastest IPL hundred by an Indian.
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Although he continued to make headlines for India’s Under-19 side on several away tours, including in Australia, England and South Africa, his crowning moment came in the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup final against England, when he smashed a match-winning 175 off just 80 balls, hitting 15 sixes and as many fours.
As IPL 2026 approaches and with Rajasthan set to host Chennai Super Kings in the third game of this season, all focus falls on Vaibhav, who was also the talking point during AB de Villiers’ YouTube session with Vaibhav’s India-A Asia Cup captain Jitesh. While Jitesh praised Vaibhav for his breathtaking talent, he sounded upset with the teenager’s off-field eating habits.
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“Right now, Vaibhav Suryavanshi. I feel he can dominate world cricket. He has gear No. 6 and a very good set of skills,” Jitesh said of the youngster’s talent and foreseeable future. He, however, was sceptical of Vaibhav’s ‘professionalism’.
“He’s not professional. I can tell you that. Everyone is trying to get him to be professional, but I don’t think he will ever get professional. He may be on the field, but off the field, he won’t. I’m trying my best. I ask him not to have ice-cream in the night,” Jitesh added.
De Villiers, on the other hand, couldn’t stop praising the Indian youngster.
“He’s a great player. I watched him in the Under-19s. It’s not always easy when you get the taste of IPL and big cricket, and still show the same kind of standard. I was very impressed with the way he played in that World Cup. Very professional. He’s very mature for his age,” de Villiers said of Sooryavanshi.
