Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shifts focus to red-ball cricket

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has gone into red-ball mode. Since returning from the tour of Zimbabwe last month, the teenage batting sensation has been fine-tuning his red-ball game at the Rajasthan Royals Academy in Talegaon, near Nagpur, for quite some time.

The Talegaon facility is the franchise’s own version of centre of excellence and Sooryavanshi, along with a group of Rajasthan Royals teammates, is gearing up for the multi-day format. RR assistant coach Vikram Rathour, who is also a former India batting coach, is helping him in his preparation.

The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi, who topped the batting charts in the last IPL season, is widely regarded as a white ball specialist. It is, however, a different matter that he disagrees with that perception, having often insisted that he is equally comfortable in the longer format.

Currently, the franchise is holding a 10-day camp for its players, with Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Ravi Singh and Sushant Mishra besides Sooryavanshi among those in attendance. Of that group, Sooryavanshi and Deshpande will feature in the Duleep Trophy, representing East Zone and West Zone respectively. Sooryavanshi is his side’s vice-captain.

Duleep Trophy, the multi-day inter-zonal tournament, begins in Bengaluru on August 23.

“The camp combines technical skill development, strength and conditioning, workload management, recovery and performance analysis through individually tailored training programmes. The objective is to ensure players return to competitive cricket physically prepared, technically refined and ready for the demands of the domestic season,” the franchise said in a statement.

Purpose-built to support cricketers throughout the year, the facility features multiple soil-specific practice wickets that replicate a variety of domestic playing conditions and dedicated red-ball preparation facilities.

“The period before the season begins is one of the most valuable opportunities for players to invest in their game. Every player arrives with different objectives, whether that’s refining technical skills, building physical conditioning or preparing for the demands of the domestic season. The High Performance Centre allows us to create individualised programmes while training together as a squad, ensuring every player is best prepared for the challenges ahead,” Rathour said.

“The High Performance Centre was established with a long-term vision of creating a world-class environment where our players can develop throughout the year. Our focus is on the overall cricketing development of every player, which extends far beyond the IPL season in April and May,” Romi Bhinder, the franchise’s head of operations, said.

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