RCB's Jitesh Sharma stands firm on ‘unprofessional’ podcast comment on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi; ‘he becomes that kid again’

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Jitesh Sharma has clarified on his "unprofessional" remark on Rajasthan Royals (RR) youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, stating that he only made the remark on the basis of the latter being a 15-year-old kid.

“He’s not professional. I can tell you that. Everyone is trying to get him to be professional, but I don’t think he will ever get professional. He may be on the field, but off the field, he won’t. I’m trying my best. I ask him not to have ice cream at night,” Jitesh had said during a conversation with AB de Villiers ahead of IPL 2026.

RR fans later took advantage of his comment to criticise the wicketkeeper-batter after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi slammed 78 runs from 28 balls to help Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru earlier in the ongoing IPL season.

“Because he is. See, he is a very close friend of mine, so I can call him anything. AB de Villiers asked me which youngster could become the next big star in Indian cricket, and I quickly named Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

"When he asked why, I said it’s because he has the technique and I’ve seen his hard work. I told him, ‘Vaibhav can dominate all three formats'," Jitesh said during a conversation with Mr Nags on RCB's social media channels.

"Now, when he said he looks professional, I said ‘no.’ He is not a professional. He is a 15-year-old kid. He loves ice cream. He comes to my home, speaks to my wife, and we watch TV and YouTube videos. He is like my younger brother," he added.

Jitesh reiterated that Vaibhav has a lot of professionalism in him. “See, I don’t know what people say, but there is a lot of professionalism around him. But he is just a kid. So when he comes over, he becomes that kid again,” he stated.

Ever since announcing his arrival in IPL 2025 with Rajasthan Royals, Vaibhav has maintained his consistency.

Overall, the Bihar cricketer has played 17 IPL matches across the 2025 and the 2026 seasons so far, and has scored 656 runs at a strike-rate of 224.65.

This season alone, Vaibhav has scored 404 runs from 10 matches at a strike-rate of 237.64, scoring two fifties and one century. Several former cricketers have urged the BCCI selectors to fast-track the youngster to the senior Indian team.

Rajasthan Royals, who are in fourth place in IPL 2026 standings, will next face Gujarat Titans (GT) in Jaipur on Saturday.