Jos Buttler was impressed by Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s abilities as the 14-year-old had a standout debut season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which ended on June 3.
Suryavanshi was signed by Rajasthan Royals (RR), Jos Buttler previous franchise, for INR 1.10 crore.
Fans expected him to sit on the bench this season or play only a few games, as team management wanted to prepare him for the future. However, the miracle youngster played seven games and scored 252 runs with an average of 36 and a strike rate of 206.56.
Suryavanshi rose to prominence after scoring a 35-ball century against Buttler’s Gujarat Titans at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The former England white-ball captain called the knock “outrageous,” citing how the southpaw destroyed international bowlers such as Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Sira, and Rashid Khan. Buttler also cited Suryavanshi’s knock against Chennai Super Kings, in which he scored 57 off 33 balls. This victory helped Rajasthan escape ending at the bottom of the table.
“The innings against us, a 35-ball hundred, was simply obscene. Our (GT) bowling lineup includes Mohammed Siraj, a fantastic international bowler, Prasidh Krishna, an international bowler, and Rashid Khan, the best T20 bowler available. And he (Suryavanshi) struck massive sixes,” Buttler stated while appearing on the ‘For The Love Of Cricket’ podcast with Stuart Broad.
“I was watching TV when he batted against the Chennai Super Kings a few matches later. CSK has seasoned pros such as R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but Suryavanshi went off! And then he knocked one out to cover, as if to say, ‘I’m in control, I’ll just take one now. At that point, I thought he was the best player I’d ever seen. Buttler added, “I was so blown away.”
Suryavanshi made his debut against the Lucknow Super Giants on April 19 and smashed a six off the first ball he faced from Shardul Thakur.
Buttler praised Suryavanshi’s fearless attitude to the game, comparing his bat swing to legends such as Yuvraj Singh and Brian Lara.
“He hit his first ball for six in the IPL.” He allowed himself a little leeway and smashed it over wide long off for six. He possessed that boldness. “There are so many brilliant players, they almost want to make a statement, like ‘look at me’,” Buttler remarked.
“We have to try and ask him how long before that happened did you think ‘I’m going to try and hit my first ball for six’. Because it was a premeditated shot. He looked for it. People have seen him with this amazing bat swing. Bit like, it’s a huge statement, Yuvraj Singh or Brian Lara,” Buttler added.
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