Devdutt Padikkal Hails Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as ‘Rare Talent’, Warns Against Copying His Style

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Devdutt Padikkal spoke on 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying that his "power and explosiveness" at his age is special and he is a "rare talent".

Sooryavanshi continues to take the cricketing world by storm. After putting up dominant performances in the ICC U19 World Cup earlier this year, the explosive teen left-hander continues to take down world-class, superstar-status bowlers right from ball one for the Royals in the ongoing IPL season.

RCB has also been one of the victims of Sooryavanshi's onslaught as his 26-ball 78, with eight fours and seven sixes, powered RR to an easy chase of 202 runs during the initial phase of the league stage.

Speaking to JioStar, Padikkal said about Sooryavanshi that "it would be foolish" to copy the left-hander, and he personally does not compare him with the youngster, saying that he tries to improve his own game as much as possible.

“Honestly, it would be foolish for anyone to try to copy him. He is a rare talent, and what he does is incredible. For me, I focus on my own strengths and try to get the best out of myself. I do not compare myself with others because there are so many talented players in this tournament. I keep it simple and work on improving my own game as much as I can," he said.

Sooryavanshi is RR's top run getter this season and is having a generational tournament, with 579 runs in 13 innings at an average of 44.53 and a strike rate of over 236, including a century, three fifties and 53 sixes, the highest by an Indian during a single IPL edition.

How does Devdutt Padikkal view RCB’s batting depth and evolving T20 approach?

On the advantage of RCB having a deep batting line-up, Padikkal said that it is a "luxury" which gives a player that extra confidence to play at the top freely, but there has to be some responsibility too.

"That is how T20 cricket is evolving now. You have to be ready to sacrifice your wicket if it helps the team score an extra 20 or 30 runs quickly. So, it is important to keep the momentum going. That is pretty much the template across the IPL. And when you have batting depth and explosiveness coming in later, it makes that approach even easier to execute," he added.

This season, Padikkal has upped his attacking game, scoring 412 runs in 12 innings at an average of 37.45 and a strike rate of over 173, with three fifties and a best score of 61.

He has played his game more freely than ever, but with his signature caution and calm, he has stitched some important partnerships, particularly with Virat Kohli.

(With inputs from ANI)