'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. 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.

Langer believes Sooryavanshi will only get better. "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. 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 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."

Riyan Parag, the Royals captain, also heaped praise on Sooryavanshi and called it the best innings he has seen from the youngster. "I think this was his best innings. 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 backed Sooryavanshi to succeed in all conditions. "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."

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. 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 admitted LSG were left frustrated after another close defeat. "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. One really big over hurts you, three kills you."

Reflecting on the season, Langer said: "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."