Rajasthan Royals (RR) assistant coach Dishant Yagnik has rubbished claims that batting prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi was under pressure during their match against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday, having scored a record-breaking century in the previous match. 14-year-old Suryavanshi, who scored a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans, was dismissed for a two-ball duck during RR’s 100-run loss to MI. Speaking after the match, Yagnik insisted Suryavanshi is very mature for his age, and his failure against MI has nothing to do with media pressure.

“No, I don’t think so (whether Suryavanshi was under pressure). He’s very mature for a 14-year-old. When you’re facing a 140 km/h delivery, the media pressure doesn’t cross your mind. You just try to express yourself with the bat. Sometimes, the same shot that earns you a boundary can also get you out. That’s what happened with Vaibhav today-he mistimed a shot and it went straight to Will Jacks,” Yagnik said during a press conference.

Asked about the difference between last year’s star-studded team and this edition’s relatively young and inexperienced side, Yagnik replied, “There’s a great point in your question about star (players). Whenever a new player arrives, he is not a star but he is made into one.” “Last year, the players we had were not stars when they entered the team but they became stars and now the players that we have got in the team, we will make them stars. We don’t buy superstars, we make superstars and this is our tagline,” he said at the post-match media conference.

The Royals were in contention for a final berth last year before finishing third on the table with 17 points from 14 games.

RR, who have only six points from 11 games, are out of the playoffs race following the loss to MI.

(With PTI Inputs)