‘Hope Vaibhav Suryavanshi doesn’t think everything is easy’ – Irfan Pathan on challenges the RR prodigy could face in IPL 2026

Irfan Pathan opined that IPL 2026 will be more challenging for Vaibhav Suryavanshi than his debut season, as teams will arrive with better plans against the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) prodigy.

Suryavanshi burst onto the scene at the age of 14 when he made his debut for the Royals in IPL 2025. He scored a blistering century against the Gujarat Titans to announce himself to the cricket fraternity. After the IPL, he has done well for India A and also India U-19.

However, Pathan advised the Bihar batter not to get complacent after seeing so much success at such a young age. The former India all-rounder stressed the importance of having a good mentor around Suryavanshi.

“100 percent, look, there will be challenges for Vaibhav Suryavanshi, there is no doubt about it, because teams will come with the planning. We have seen with Abhishek Sharma how teams have come with the planning. It will be the same with Vaibhav Suryavanshi. But I think he has the power, he scores runs wherever he goes. He makes runs in U-19, for India ‘A, in red-ball cricket, consistently. Last year, we saw him for seven matches, this season he is going to get to play all matches. So in that sense, Vaibhav is fully expected to have a breakout season,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.

“Mentally, things should not come into his mind that everything is easy. This is very important. There should be someone playing a role like Rahul Dravid had done last year. He should have a good mentor with him,” he added.

He can have a 20-year professional cricketing career, that is a long period of time: Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan reiterated that Suryavanshi shouldn’t get too ahead of himself as he has the prospect of having a 20-year professional cricketing career, something which is very rare in modern-day cricket.

“It will be very important for Vaibhav Suryavanshi to not let anything affect him, especially in his mindset, because it is such a scary thing to think that he is a guy who is only 15 years old. He can have a 20-year professional cricketing career, that is a long period of time. Especially in this era, where longevity is not a priority,” Pathan said.