'It's a privilege to watch him bat' - Langer heaps praise on Sooryavanshi

Justin Langer could not stop praising Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after the youngster once again starred for Rajasthan Royals in their win over Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday (May 19). Langer described the teenager's batting as "breathtaking" and admitted it was a privilege to watch him bat.

"We've seen it all season, he's the leading run scorer. In all my time, I've seen some amazing players in 35 years of cricket. To see a young man bat like that, not just tonight, but throughout the series, is breathtaking," Langer said after Sooryavanshi hammered 93 off just 38 to help the Royals chase down 221 in Jaipur to boost their qualification chances.

Langer believes that Sooryavanshi will only get better and better from this point. "I think the last game, Mitchell Starc, who's one of the all-time great white ball bowlers, he's bowling and look at the expression on his face," Langer recalled. "And Nortje, who's a world-class international bowler and Sooryavanshi is hitting him. And the expression on their face is such that, 'what is happening here?' The scary thing going forward is, if the expressions on the face of Mitch Starc and Nortje and every bowler tell a story now, what about when he learns how to bat? My gosh, he's so young. So, yeah, he's a brilliant, brilliant player. And it's a real privilege to watch him bat, actually."

Riyan Parag, the Royals captain, too heaped praise on Sooryavanshi and called it the best innings he has seen from the youngster. "I think this was his best innings," Parag said. "He was on 5 off 11 or something like that. But he took his time. He played that first big shot of Mayank over covers, which really gave me a sense of satisfaction and understanding that he has a larger understanding of the game."

Langer also backed Sooryavanshi to succeed in all conditions and said the youngster has the game to adapt anywhere in the world. "People say to me, would Bradman have made so many runs in the days where they could wear helmets or blah, blah, blah. And I say, well, he would adapt. And Sooryavanshi's that good. Wherever he plays, he's going to adapt his game because where are they going to bowl to him? Honestly, where are they going to bowl to him? So, he'll adapt. He'll keep getting better and better, which is scary for world cricket," he said.

While praising Sooryavanshi, Langer also expressed his delight over Prince Yadav earning a national call-up. "I cannot tell you how happy I am for Prince Yadav," Langer said. "His work ethic, the way he goes about his business, his care for the team, he will be a brilliant acquisition for the Indian international team. I mean, he's one of a kind. He's a brilliant person. He does everything. Even if he has brilliant days by himself, he's only happy if the team wins. Very, very high skill. Very, very high character. I'm sure Gautam Gambhir and his team will be delighted to have someone as good as him coming into their side."

Langer, however, admitted LSG were left frustrated after another close defeat in an inconsistent campaign. "We probably got a bit tied down in the middle overs, which hurt us. But ultimately, what really hurt us, I think three overs went for 73 runs," he said. "One really big over hurts you, three kills you."

Reflecting on the season overall, Langer said LSG simply failed to put together complete performances consistently enough. "We've been on the wrong side of close games. We just haven't been able to execute. It's been an inconsistent season. That's why we're bottom of the table," he concluded.