MUMBAI: He has left the cricketing world spellbound with his tremendous hitting abilities, with sixes and fours raining off his marauding blade relentlessly but Rajasthan’s explosive opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has also faced a bit of scrutiny for playing as an ‘Impact Player,’ which means that he has only batted during the games and not fielded at all. The 15-year-old batting sensation has smashed 579 runs in 13 matches at an average of 44.53 at an unbelievable strike rate of 236.32, with three fifties and a hundred in IPL-2026.However, former India batters Sanjay Manjrekar and Mohammed Kaif have criticised RR’s decision to play the dashing left-hander as an Impact Sub. While Manjrekar said that not fielding during games will hamper Sooryavanshi’s growth as a player, as fielding too is a specialist job and an important area for any cricketer, Kaif pointed out that the young gun “hasn’t taken a catch this IPL season.” Asked before his team’s crucial match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday afternoon about why RR were playing Sooryavanshi only as an ‘Impact Player,’ the team’s assistant coach Trevor Penny asserted that the youngster “is a very good fielder.” “So, he is a very good fielder. He’s got great hands. He moves well. He dives. He anticipates. He’s got all that. It’s just the way it’s worked out. And sometimes with him opening the batting, him going in in the second innings being fresh, it’s worked for us. So, there’s no specific reason why, ‘oh, he’s a bad fielder, we’re not playing him in the field.’ So, it’s nothing to do with that. It’s just circumstances. And sometimes there was a slightly, maybe better fielder or more experienced fielder. But generally, it’s been to keep him fresh for his batting,” Penny said in a pre-match press conference on Saturday. Penny insisted that Sooryanshi’s running between the wickets was “very good” as well. “But he doesn’t really have to run between the wickets too much, does he? It’s just about a break. I think he can if he has to. You saw in the last game, he had 10 of 11 balls. And he was so determined to win that game. That’s why he didn’t go in and just try and hit from Ball One,” said the RR assistant coach. Showering praise on Sooryavanshi, Penny said that the youngster “lives in his own bubble” and was a kind player he hadn’t seen in his four-decade old career in cricket. “I’m sure he’s very excited (to play at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time). We don’t have to talk to him much. He’s just such a pleasant boy, he’s very confident, he’s just so excited every day to go and play and practice. So, to be honest, we don’t really have to talk to him too much. He’s just in his little bubble, he practices hard, and then when he goes out to play, he just enjoys himself. So, it’s pretty rare that I’ve ever seen that. So, I’ve been in cricket for 40 years and I haven’t seen that before. So, long may that last, and I certainly hope that it works tomorrow.”How is the Rajasthan Royals coaching staff, led by head coach Kumar Sangakkara, protecting Sooryavanshi from the tremendous hype building around him. “We’ve got a really good team, managerial staff, support staff, that are looking after him. He’s very young and the nights are long and that sort of stuff. So, we look after him in the evenings, make sure he practices accordingly, and look after all those small things which you have to do with a young boy. But he’s pretty freaky in a way, how he’s dealing with it all. Over on Joffrey Archer and his season so far, with the last season he struggled a bit, he’s come back really well,” Penny said.‘Talk of missing Test for England doesn’t bother Archer’Meanwhile, RR’s England ace pacer Jofra Archer missing the first Test against New Zealand starting from June 4 due to hisIPL commitments has raised a storm back in England, with former England captain Michael Atheron questioning in his column in “The Times’ if the ‘central contract’ had a value if Archer was going to miss the first Test of the summer, calling the situation “incredibly frustrating.” Another ex-England captain Michael Vaughan too blasted the ECB-BCCI deal on Archer, questioning the fast bowler’s IPL involvement. Asked if Archer was being affected by the criticism, Penny came up with a pragmatic answer. “Yeah, I’ve read some of those articles. It’s quite weird because it’s a big tournament. Everybody knows IPL is the thing to come to as well. So, if he misses one game for England, then so be it for him. I think that’s how he’s thinking. But, I don’t think it bothers him. I think maybe he’d be a bit annoyed, but I can’t answer for him on that. But, he’s just getting on as normal.He’s hardly even mentioned it. Guys haven’t even spoken about it. But, yeah, it is what it is. You either come and choose here and then annoy people there or you leave here early and then you’re in trouble of never coming back to the IPL.”Penny revealed that senior allrounder Ravindra Jadeja (elbow injury) and skipper Riyan Parag (hamstring and shoulder injury), who missed the last match due to injuries, were “looking good,” but was non-committal about whether the duo would feature in the team’s crucial final league game against MI on Sunday. “Yes, they’ve got niggles. We’re going to test (them) today. It’s a practice to see if we can pick them for tomorrow. I can’t say much more than that. Not really on the selection panel. But they’re looking good. Obviously, there are niggles there,” Penny revealed.
