New Delhi, March 16 (NationPress) Renowned T20 World Cup champion Sanju Samson recently shared a comical episode from the Rajasthan Royals camp that featured former head coach Rahul Dravid and the 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Samson recounted Dravid's conversation with the young talent just before his debut in the Indian Premier League last season, highlighting the amusing response Sooryavanshi provided when questioned about his game plan for the inaugural match.

Sooryavanshi made a remarkable impression during his debut season, accumulating 252 runs in just seven matches for the Rajasthan Royals at a striking strike rate of 206.56. His most notable performance was against the Gujarat Titans, where he smashed an incredible 101 runs off only 38 balls, reaching his century in a mere 35 deliveries.

During the BCCI Annual Awards ceremony, Sooryavanshi was prompted to recall his initial conversation with Dravid and then-captain Samson before stepping onto the IPL stage.

As Sooryavanshi began to recount the story, Samson interjected, providing a detailed account of the exchange between Dravid and the young player. He stated, "I was actually in a meeting at that time. Rahul Sir called him into the room and mentioned, 'Sanju, we need to talk to him. He's just a young kid; we should guide him on how to approach things.' Then, Rahul Sir asked him, 'Vaibhav, what's your plan?' Vaibhav responded, 'Kuch nahi sir, hum to khelenge. (Nothing special, Sir. I’ll just play).' When asked about his game plan, Vaibhav confidently replied, 'Agar hume agar pehla mila to hum pehla hi uda denge (If I get the first ball, I'm just going to smash it), and I thought, 'He is playing a completely different video game.'"

Samson’s unique portrayal of Sooryavanshi elicited laughter from the audience, even causing the typically composed Dravid to lose his cool.

The awards ceremony was held on Sunday night, attended by all BCCI officials, the former secretary of the board, and the current chairman of the International Cricket Council, Jay Shah. Also gracing the event were the victorious members of the recent ICC tournaments—the U19 Men’s World Cup, U19 Women’s World Cup, Champions Trophy, Women’s ODI World Cup, and Men’s T20 World Cup.

Among the most celebrated figures were former Indian cricketer and head coach Rahul Dravid, Roger Binny—a 1983 World Cup winner and former BCCI president, and Mithali Raj, all of whom were honored with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

IANS