Former captain heavily criticises Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s one aspect after DC vs RR IPL 2026 match

Former England captain Michael Vaughan criticized Rajasthan Royals (RR) youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s fielding after the side’s defeat to Delhi Capitals (DC) on May 17. The teenage sensation scored a brilliant 21-ball 46 with the bat, helping RR amass 193/8 in their 20 overs.

However, Vaibhav had a few fumbles on the field, including one in the deep that cost a boundary. In the end, RR suffered a five-wicket defeat off the final over of DC’s run chase.

Talking about Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s fielding efforts, Vaughan told Cricbuzz (11:38):

“Just like batting and bowling, there should be a routine from the players for fielding. Vaibhav Suryavanshi has hardly done any fielding this season. And he was poor in the field tonight. Though you can hit a cricket ball, if he wants to become a great, great cricketer, he’s going to have to improve his fielding.”

He added:

“If he wants to be in the Indian white-ball team and even possibly make the ODI World Cup side, his fielding needs to improve, and he needs a process in the field as well.”

RR’s defeat was their sixth in the last eight outings, after a 4-0 start to the IPL 2026 campaign. They missed the playoffs last season, finishing second from bottom on the standings.

“This is a common trend with this team” – Michael Vaughan on RR

Michael Vaughan believes RR’s routine fast start and mid- and late-season stumble in every IPL have become a worrying trend for them. Like several previous years, RR looked dominant in the first quarter of the ongoing season before fading out of the top four.

They are currently ranked sixth in the standings with six wins in 12 outings.

“This is a common trend with this team, where they start well and falter towards the back end. And this management has been there for a while now. Pressure could be the season because at this stage, you have to win for qualification. But at the start, you can afford to lose. Tonight, they didn’t react to the pressure well at all,” said Vaughan (via the aforementioned source).

RR will likely need to win their final two league-stage matches to advance to the playoffs.