Former Australian captain Michael Clarke praised Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi, claiming him the most precious player of the IPL in the mean time, after his heroics in IPL 2026 as well. Nonetheless, he finished as the very best run-scorer with 776 runs, which got here at a mean of 48.50 and a strike rate of 237.30 in 16 innings as well. He also hit 72 sixes and was named the Player of the Tournament.
Talking about Suryavanshi after the IPL 2026 season, Michael Clarke said on the Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast: “He’s definitely the talk of this yr’s IPL. The poor kid was in tears when RR got knocked out, but he can hold his head high, as he had a stellar yr. If the large auction was there this yr and he was in it, I don’t think you pay anyone else greater than him.”
“Every generation has that special player like Viv Richards, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, or Jacques Kallis, who’s so influential to kids world wide. Similarly, this young kid will encourage the following generation of young girls and boys all world wide,” he added again.
‘He’ll play the following T20I for India’ – Michael Clarke on Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Michael Clarke also said Vaibhav Suryavanshi should immediately be drafted into the Indian T20I team, considering his IPL 2026 performance as well.
“Allow him time to evolve in the opposite formats, as he’s only 15. He’ll play the following T20I for India or not less than definitely be within the squad. You’ll see him in a variety of Indian squads only for the experience of traveling with the team, being around senior players, and training in numerous conditions world wide. He’s ok to already be playing within the shortest format for India,” said Clarke.
“He shall be ok to play all three formats and dominate in all of them for India. He’s too talented and reads the sport so well. Within the Second Qualifier, he didn’t have the proper batting conditions. He still managed to get a 90 off 40-odd balls. He showed game awareness and the skill to not only stand and smack every ball for six within the powerplay. It’s going to be tough for Rajasthan to maintain him because everyone wants him,” he concluded.
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