Bowlers will have to invent new deliveries that physics hasn't approved yet to stop his sixes.
Any normal delivery -- good length, short of length, yorker, faster or slower ones, and even googlies -- are all being hit for sixes.
The Indian Premier League is the world's most popular franchise cricket tournament, but will it be a 15-year-old kid who will decide the winner this season?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit a breezy 97 to help Rajasthan Royals knock Sunrisers Hyderabad out of the tournament and reach Qualifier 2 to take on Gujarat Titans in Mohali on Friday, May 29, 2026.
Unless GT stop Sooryavanshi, they may find it difficult to reach the final.
And should RR reach the final, then Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be able to retain the title only if this boy is prevented from running amok.
Key Points
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's explosive 97 powered Rajasthan Royals into Qualifier 2 and knocked Sunrisers Hyderabad out.
- The 15-year-old batter surpassed Chris Gayle's IPL record for most sixes in a single season.
- Pat Cummins endured a difficult outing after conceding 64 runs, including multiple sixes from Sooryavanshi.
- Opposition teams are increasingly viewing Sooryavanshi as Rajasthan Royals' biggest match-winning threat in the playoffs.
Rajasthan Royals Dominate
Whenever Sooryavanshi has hit a whirlwind knock, his team has won.
He cannot even be called the Man of the Match because he is still a young boy.
If he continues to play such knocks, all that the opposing teams can do is to return home saying 'better luck next time.'
Pat Cummins Nightmare Spell
SRH Skipper Pat Cummins could think all the way back on his flight to Australia about what went wrong with his bowling.
He was hit for 25 runs in the third over, which included three back-to-back sixes by Sooryavanshi!
This Australian team skipper, who flew back proudly after beating India in the 2023 World Cup, will need some good positive thinking to erase the fact that he ended up conceding 64 runs in four overs.
IPL Sixes Record Broken
Sooryavanshi, who has surpassed Chris Gayle's record for the maximum number of sixes in an IPL season, is now giving jitters to every top bowler in the world.
His 97 resembled an eviction notice to SRH. In fact, it was a knock that handed Sunrisers a sunset.
He now has a tally of 65 sixes, racing past Gayle's 59 in a single IPL season.
How many more would he add to his tally is anyone's guess, but one thing is certain: This record is likely to stand for a long time unless Sooryavanshi breaks it again.
SRH bowlers would have thanked their stars when he got out. Had he reached his century, he may have shifted gears to hit only sixes. He had already struck 12 sixes in his 97.
No wonder Chris Gayle, who calls himself Universe Boss, dubbed Sooryavanshi the new six machine.
It is an apt description because this boy resembles a machine that fires sixes.
When he bats, the pressure is not on him but on the bowlers. He has turned bowlers nervous, erasing the usual trend of batters getting butterflies in their stomachs while at the crease.
When he bats, even electronic scoreboards are under pressure. The speed of updates may well trigger a technical glitch.
But for now, it isn't the machines that are crashing. It's the opposition.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
