Caution, bumps ahead warns Dravid on Suryavanshi's early success

Coach Dravid expresses caution over setting expectations for teen sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi © BCCI
Early-teen prodigies in India aren't rare. In the world of sports, we don't even have to stretch too far beyond R Praggnanandhaa, who became a chess grandmaster at the age of 12 in 2018, and beat the world champion Magnus Carlson four years later.

Popular child artists aren't rare either. If Darsheel Safary, that bucktoothed protagonist from the movie Taare Zameen Par, is part of collective memory even in 2025, the point is validated.

What is rare though are early-teen prodigies who exhibit their brilliance in front of millions, and become the instant centre of mass attention. There is a reason that Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old Rajasthan Royals, has found himself in that rare spot.

Playing in a tournament that has become a platform for a factory of young talents to be showcased, he has stood out. While a good reason for that maybe his skills, the age-factor is hard to ignore. He is younger than the youngest Indian prodigy there ever was playing at the highest level - Sachin Tendulkar at 16.

Rahul Dravid, the head coach of Rajathan Royals, laid out what's special about Suryavanshi. "The ability of him to have that level of fearlessness and not get phased by the occasion or what was happening around him that's something that's truly special," Dravid noted. "You don't really get to see that with people who are so young. And the range of shots as well that he showed, he's only going to develop and he's only going to get better."

He detailed further. "He's got a really good hand at bat speed. Obviously, he's got a really high back lift as is pretty obvious. Really good hand-eye coordination in terms of judgement of length. That's something that's really amazed me. And of course, he seems to have a natural strength, which is really helpful.

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In saying so, Dravid, a long-time teammate of Tendulkar and someone who has seen a fair share of young players develop and not through his experience as a player and a coach, has warned that it is imperative to be responsible while talking up Suryavanshi. "No one should be in any rush to proclaim him as something that he's not," Dravid warned.

His words echoed those of Rajasthan Royals' batting coach Vikram Rathore, who dismissed suggestions on whether, in Suryavanshi, India was looking at the 'next Tendulkar'. He termed the comparisons premature and unfair to Suryavanshi.

"He is what he is," Dravid specified. "He's an exceptionally talented young player who's working really hard. He's got some great skills and abilities, but he's going to have to keep improving. Nobody is saying he's a finished article. And that's one thing I would definitely like to see, he's going to have to keep working hard on his game."

While admitting that the attention and scrutiny are bound to follow the 14-year-old due to the nature of the cricketing ecosystem in the country, the Rajasthan Royals' head coach also explained the reason why it isn't fair to place high expectations on Suryavanshi so early in his career.

"I've seen Rishabh Pant as a 17-year-old. I've seen Shubman Gill. I've seen Riyan Parag. I've seen Yashasvi Jaiswal. I've seen Prithvi Shaw. I've seen Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi and a young Khaleel Ahmed. Having been in the system, I've seen some really exciting young talent, a lot of talented young kids and I've also seen that some of the journeys go really well. Some of them maybe take a little bit longer and that's fine. You know, it can take a little bit longer for some of the kids."

While the sinful indulgence of attention might be challenging and exciting, according to Dravid, he's unsure if there is a way to protect the youngster from it. "It's the thoughts that's been running at the top of my head. It's going to be challenging for the kid. I would love to say that we shouldn't shower him with so much attention and focus. But maybe I'm being naive, maybe I'm not being realistic. Maybe that is what's going to happen.

"I don't think they're going to be able to completely avoid him from experiencing all that's happening around him. A lot of what's going to happen around him is probably beyond his or our control. I cannot control how much people are going to talk about him or what people are going to say about him nor can he control what the media is going to write about him."

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While the words of caution may have been specifically regarding Suryavanshi, it could very well be applicable to the mass factory of aspiring and talented cricketers coming through the system, joining cricket academies often as early as four-year-olds in search of early glory and fame.

Early success, as many elite athletes have testified, does not guarantee ultimate joy. Martina Hingis, for example, one of the greatest tennis players of all time from Switzerland, had been moulded into a prodigy at a young age. Having started her training at the age of two she was participating in competitive tournaments two years later. The early induction into the sport was followed by early success. But all that fame and glory unfortunately came at a cost.

By the age of 22, she retired from the sport for the first time with 13 grand slams, citing injuries and fatigue as the reasons. Till only a year earlier, she had rather proudly flaunted growing up as a lonely child and being obsessed with perfection in her sport.

It's not the kind of situation that Dravid wants Suryavanshi to be in. While admitting that it would be difficult to keep Suryavanshi away from the forced attention, Dravid recognised the fact that a strong support system needs to be developed for the youngster to enjoy his sport.

"I don't think they're going to be able to actually control everything. It's just recognising that this can happen, this is what happens and putting a certain level of support around that and supporting him and helping him to navigate all of this attention and still allowing him that space to be a youngster is going to be important.

"That (excessive attention) is part of being a cricketer in this country, that somehow you learn to deal with it because it's impossible to completely distance yourself from it 100%. You don't want to get sucked into it completely as well. So finding that happy medium is probably the answer in this situation. And I think a lot of you (the media) can play that role as well.

"Let's be realistic, in a game of cricket where you fail a lot, he's going to go through some ups and downs as well. So I think everyone can recognise that fact that he's going to have some success, he's going to have some failure and we're all going to have to be mindful of that, that he's a young man finding his way as well."