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    STUMP VISION                                                             JUNE 05, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 46

                                                      VAIBHAV SOORYAVANSHI

                 The 15-Year-Old Redefining IPL

               2026 with a Record-Breaking Bat

                After a sensational 97 off 29 balls in the Eliminator, the left-hander is being hailed as

                                the most dominant and fearless batter of the franchise this year

            OUR BUREAU
            Mumbai
                  aibhav Sooryavanshi’s rise in IPL 2026 has
                  reached  a  defining  peak,  with  cricket  leg-
            Vends, former players and even the “Universe
            Boss” Chris Gayle acknowledging the 15-year-old
            Rajasthan  Royals  prodigy  as  a  once-in-a-genera-
            tion talent. His explosive Eliminator innings against
            Sunrisers Hyderabad has not only pushed his team
            into Qualifier 2 but also cemented his status as the
            most talked-about player of the season.
                The teenager’s blistering 97 off just 29 balls,
            featuring five fours and 12 sixes at a strike rate of
            over 334, came at a crucial moment in the knockout
            stage. It was an innings described across the crick-
            eting world as fearless, dominant and game-break-
            ing. Sooryavanshi’s assault helped Rajasthan Royals
            post a massive 243/8, setting the tone for a com-
            manding 47-run victory.
                For Chris Gayle, a man long associated with
            six-hitting dominance, the knock carried both admi-
            ration and personal symbolism. Sooryavanshi sur-
            passed Gayle’s long-standing record of 59 sixes in a   Across 15 innings, Sooryavanshi has scored 680 runs at an average of 45.33 and a staggering strike rate of 242.85. His season
            single IPL season, reaching 65 sixes in IPL 2026. In
            response, Gayle posted on Instagram: “Outstand-          includes a century, four fifties, 55 fours and 65 sixes from just 280 balls faced (ANI file photo)
            ing @Vaibhav_Sooryavanshi09, a new six machine
            @iplt20,” while also acknowledging the teenager’s   IPL  knockout  or  playoff  match,  surpassing  Shub-  few overs, with SRH’s plans collapsing almost im-
            near-miss at breaking his fastest IPL hundred re-  man Gill’s previous record of 10. The 16-ball fifty he   mediately under pressure.
            cord, adding that he was “unlucky” but would “get   brought up also equalled Suresh Raina’s record for   The statistics also show his dominance in pow-
            there eventually.”                           the fastest half-century in an IPL knockout game.  erplay cricket. Sooryavanshi has scored 490 runs in
                The numbers behind Sooryavanshi’s season un-  Former cricketer Aakash Chopra described   the powerplay this season, the highest ever in an IPL
            derline why he is being spoken about as IPL 2026’s   the innings as overwhelming for the opposition,   edition, surpassing David Warner’s 467 in 2016. He
            defining player. Across 15 innings, he has scored 680   noting how SRH’s plans, including Pat Cummins’   has also registered eight sixes in a single powerplay,
            runs at an average of 45.33 and a staggering strike   early yorker strategy, were rendered ineffective   the most in IPL history.
            rate of 242.85. His season includes a century, four   once Sooryavanshi settled. Chopra said the bowl-  His consistency at high speed is equally strik-
            fifties, 55 fours and 65 sixes from just 280 balls faced.  ing attack “looked helpless,” adding that it felt like   ing. This season marks his fifth fifty in fewer than
                What stands out even more is the extent of   they were “hit by a tsunami,” and emphasised that   20 balls, with only Abhishek Sharma having more
            his  boundary  dependence  and  efficiency.  As  per   his control against a world-class attack showed the   such explosive knocks. He has also joined elite com-
            CricViz data, 88.9 per cent of his runs have come   mark of a special player.              pany by scoring 50-plus runs in powerplay segments
            through boundaries, a level of dominance that plac-  South African legend AB de Villiers also praised   in knockout matches, alongside Suresh Raina and
            es him in rare company in T20 history.       the teenager’s composure, highlighting his ability to   Adam Gilchrist.
                Sooryavanshi has also matched elite milestones   remain calm despite constant tactical changes from   Sooryavanshi’s 97 remains the second-highest
            previously associated with legends. He has equalled   SRH. “What stood out most… was his composure   individual score for Rajasthan Royals in an IPL
            Gayle’s record of four instances of hitting 10 or   and clarity under pressure at just 15 years of age,” he   knockout match, only behind Jos Buttler’s 106* in
            more sixes in an IPL innings, with three of those   said, adding that Sooryavanshi stayed “completely   2022. Yet the manner of his innings—fast, fearless
            coming in this single season. He is also the first bat-  locked into his own bubble” throughout the innings   and relentless—has made it arguably more impact-
            ter to achieve three such explosive innings in one   and showed remarkable awareness in a high-pres-  ful in terms of momentum shift.
            edition of the IPL.                          sure knockout match.                             From Chris Gayle calling him a “new six ma-
                His knockout performance against Sunrisers   Even Anil Kumble highlighted the impact of   chine” to AB de Villiers praising his composure, the
            Hyderabad added another layer of history. The 12   the innings, noting that Sooryavanshi “completely   consensus is clear: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is not just
            sixes he struck are the most ever by a batter in an   changed the direction of the game” within the first   the breakout star of IPL 2026—he is its defining force.

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