England veteran wicket-keeper bat Jos Buttler has showered praise on prodigy batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi, rating him as the best player he has ever seen. Suryavanshi was at his absolute best in the Under-19 World Cup final against England as he smashed a magnum opus knock of 175 runs off just 80 balls and was awarded Player of the Match.
The prodigy left-hander clobbered 15 fours and as many sixes in his blistering knock as he scored his runs at a strike rate of 218.75. Ergo, he played an instrumental role in helping India post a gargantuan total of 411 runs on the board.
The southpaw scored 439 runs in seven matches of the tournament at an average of 62.71 and a strike rate of 169.50 and thus was awarded Player of the Tournament.
Buttler said on ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast, “I was watching it on TV, just thinking, these are not just any old shots; they’re some of the best shots you’ve ever seen. My statement is, he’s the best player I’ve ever seen, because I’m like, how? Who else was doing this at 14 years old? If he’s doing that at 14, what’s he going to be doing at 16, 18, 20?”
Buttler said people would have downplayed Suryavanshi’s performance in the Under-19 World Cup if he had not performed in IPL 2025.
“And, you know, if he hadn’t played in the IPL, you’d say, “Oh, he’s only done it in the Under-19 World Cup, and yes, it’s amazing, but let’s see when he steps up to senior cricket.” But he’s already played, he’s got 100 in the IPL. He hit his first ball in the IPL for six. You could arguably say it wasn’t methodical, he just swung and played amazing. But in the game he got 70-odd, it was like against Chennai, and Ashwin and Jadeja were bowling, and he whacked one for six, then sort of tapped one off his hip and trotted down the other end like a seasoned pro, just seeing his team home.”
Suryavanshi scored 252 runs in seven matches of IPL 2025 for Rajasthan Royals at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 206.55 and thus hogged all the limelight.
