Caution, bumps ahead warns Dravid on Suryavanshi's early success

Early-teen prodigies in India aren't rare. In the world of sports, we don't even have to stretch too far beyond R Praggnanandhaa, who became a chess grandmaster at the age of 12 in 2018, and beat the world champion Magnus Carlson four years later.

Popular child artists aren't rare either. If Darsheel Safary, that bucktoothed protagonist from the movie Taare Zameen Par, is part of collective memory even in 2025, the point is validated.

What is rare though are early-teen prodigies who exhibit their brilliance in front of millions, and become the instant centre of mass attention. There is a reason that Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old Rajasthan Royals, has found himself in that rare spot.

Playing in a tournament that has become a platform for a factory of young talents to be showcased, he has stood out. While a good reason for that maybe his skills, the age-factor is hard to ignore. He is younger than the youngest Indian prodigy there ever was playing at the highest level - Sachin Tendulkar at 16.