India’s T20 World Cup-winning cricketer Sanju Samson recently recounted a humorous moment from the Rajasthan Royals camp involving former head coach Rahul Dravid and 14-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The story highlights the light-hearted side of the Royals’ dressing room ahead of Sooryavanshi’s IPL debut last season.
Speaking at the BCCI Annual Awards, Samson revealed the amusing conversation between Dravid and the youngster.
“I was actually in a meeting at the time. Rahul Sir called him in and said, ‘Sanju, we need to talk to him. He’s just a young kid; we need to guide him.’ Then he asked Vaibhav, ‘What’s the plan?’ Vaibhav replied, ‘Kuch nahi sir, hum to khelenge’ (Nothing special, Sir. I’ll just play). When asked about his game plan, he said, ‘Agar hume pehla mila to hum pehla hi uda denge’ (If I get the first ball, I’m just going to smash it). I thought, ‘Yeh alag video game hi khel raha hai’ (He’s playing a completely different video game),” Samson recalled.
The anecdote drew laughter from the audience, even prompting the usually composed Dravid to smile.
Sooryavanshi went on to impress in his debut IPL season, scoring 252 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 206.56, including a sensational 101 off 38 balls against the Gujarat Titans, reaching his century in just 35 deliveries.
The awards ceremony was attended by BCCI office bearers, former board secretary, and ICC chairman Jay Shah, alongside the winning members of the recent ICC tournaments: U19 Men’s World Cup, U19 Women’s World Cup, Champions Trophy, Women’s ODI World Cup, and Men’s T20 World Cup.
The spotlight also shone on cricketing legends, with former India cricketer Rahul Dravid, 1983 World Cup winner and former BCCI president Roger Binny, and former India captain Mithali Raj being honoured with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.