NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had made his mark in IPL 2025 and then stepped it up further with performances for the age-group Indian team in different tournaments and tours. After producing 252 runs across seven innings in the previous IPL, the 15-year-old stepped up and how: 776 runs at an average of 48.50 and strike rate of 237.30. A staggering 72 sixes edged Chris Gayle’s record for most maximums in a single season. And he came within a whisker of breaking the milestone of the quickest century too.Even though his IPL franchise (Rajasthan Royals) didn’t make the final, the boy from Bihar sprawled at the Narendra Modi Stadium to collect a gluttony of awards. Orange Cap. Emerging Player of the Season. Super Striker of the Season. Super Sixes of the Season. Most Valuable Player of the Season. Less than a week later, his prolific scoring has earned him a place in India’s senior squad for the T20Is in Ireland and England.Even if there is apprehension attached to a 15-year-old being called up for international cricket, there is a sense of excitement too. An excitement that is brought on by the fact that Sooryavanshi can walk in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar, who made his India debut at 16.And then there is the obvious thrill of watching Sooryavanshi bat — making best in the world look ordinary. Even, clueless.A closer look at those 776 runs in IPL 2026 showcases how he’s changed the game.
| Sooryavanshi against bowler type | Runs | Balls | Outs | SR | 4s | 6s | Dot % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left-arm Chinaman | 14 | 3 | 0 | 466.66 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Left-arm Fast | 18 | 8 | 0 | 225.00 | 1 | 2 | 37.50 |
| Left-arm Medium | 58 | 30 | 3 | 193.33 | 6 | 5 | 50.00 |
| Left-arm Orthodox | 29 | 10 | 1 | 290.00 | 2 | 3 | 20.00 |
| Right-arm | 57 | 17 | 2 | 335.29 | 3 | 7 | 23.53 |
| Right-arm Fast | 110 | 45 | 1 | 244.44 | 5 | 13 | 35.55 |
| Right-arm Legbreak | 26 | 13 | 2 | 200.00 | 1 | 3 | 38.46 |
| Right-arm Medium | 405 | 171 | 7 | 236.84 | 42 | 31 | 30.99 |
| Right-arm Offbreak | 59 | 30 | 0 | 196.66 | 3 | 6 | 33.33 |
By virtue of facing the right-arm bowlers more than the left-armers, — 276 balls vs 51 — he was more lethal against the former. 657 of his 776 runs, or 84.66%, came against the right-hand bowlers.Subsequently, he also fell to right-arm bowlers more than left-arm bowlers. He was dismissed 12 times by right-arm bowlers and four times by left-armers. Look further and the biggest challenge appears to be right-arm pacers. The Samastipur-born was sent back 10 times by a right-arm pacer.Yet, how much he goes on the attack cannot be ignored too. He faced 233 balls against right-armers, right-arm fast and right-arm medium bowlers throughout the memorable campaign. He scored 572 runs against these bowlers, scoring at a strike rate of 245.49. A grand 101 boundaries – 50 fours and 51 sixes – also came to the right-arm bowlers who largely bowled with pace.
| Length | Runs | Balls | SR | Wkts | Ave | Dot% | Boundary % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | 223 | 70 | 318.57 | 4 | 55.75 | 30.0 | 55.71 |
| Back of a length | 155 | 91 | 170.32 | 2 | 77.50 | 34.0 | 27.47 |
| Length ball | 241 | 90 | 267.77 | 6 | 40.16 | 30.0 | 47.77 |
| – | 4 | 1 | 400.00 | 0 | – | 0.0 | 100.00 |
| Full | 134 | 44 | 304.54 | 2 | 67.00 | 20.4 | 56.81 |
| Yorker | 2 | 12 | 16.66 | 1 | 2.00 | 83.3 | 0.00 |
| Half tracker | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | – | 100.0 | 0.00 |
| Full toss | 13 | 17 | 76.47 | 1 | 13.00 | 52.9 | 5.88 |
| Beamer | 4 | 1 | 400.00 | 0 | – | 0.0 | 100.00 |
When Pat Cummins, and countless other bowlers, said they were running out of ideas where to bowl to Sooryavanshi, they were not exaggerating.Bowl him a length ball, as bowlers did 90 times in the campaign, he thumped it for 241 runs at a strike rate of 267.77.When the bowlers went short or bowled back of the length, it resulted in 378 runs from 161 balls at a strike rate of 274.78, even if it had high percentage of dot balls and dismissals.How Sooryavanshi is able to achieve such scoring
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
“Sooryavanshi is changing what length means in the modern game. As has been documented, his strike rate against length balls this season is 240+, while others against the same length are operating closer to 140+,” said renowned coach Zubin Bharucha to TimesofIndia.com.“What enables him to achieve this is a superbly coiled upper half, combined with a considerable bend in his torso at the top of his swing. This allows his head to get outside the line of most deliveries.“As a result, he is seeing balls well outside off stump directly in front of his eyeline, whereas for most batters that same ball exists outside their eyeline and as result more difficult to judge. “At the same time, his weight is almost completely loaded into his back leg. He is effectively operating on one leg, which in itself suggests the weight has to remain back. If you attain this position and then do not move your hips forward, in the traditional batting sense, that has been taught since the inception of the game, your front foot cannot really go forward, or if it does, it only moves a fraction without much weight transferring onto it. Given the lack of weight on this front foot you often see him finishing the shot with his front foot flayed open and his ankle turned over, you cannot turn your ankle over like that if there is any weight on it or it will break.
He is seeing balls well outside off stump directly in front of his eyeline, whereas for most batters that same ball exists outside their eyeline and as result more difficult to judge.
Zubin Bharucha
“What this position on the crease also achieves and enables is the bat to do all its operations (movements) in-front of the stumps with the body staying inside the line of the ball. For most other batters the body stays more inline with the ball and the bat operates slightly outside of that. This is driven from the deep bend of his back which enables his hands to operate in-front of the stumps like some of the former greats did when they stood well outside leg stump to ensure the bat was operating in-front of the stumps and the body was well inside the line. This resulted in (Donald) Bradman being LBW some less than ten times in his entire career and players like Graeme Pollock who never got out LBW in his whole career. It’s accentuated by the bend of his back and even though he is not taking an outside leg stump guard, Vaibhav is still able to attain these positions on the crease similar to these former greats. “It is all driven by the hip not sliding forward, and this enables him to remain in such a strong coiled position on one leg, from which he can create that hip-and-shoulder separation and attack every ball. The moment the hip slides forward, as batting has been taught for the last 150 years, you become committed to one length and lose the ability to do what Sooryavanshi does on every ball: get into a position from which every ball becomes a hittable option,” he explained the technical aspect of the 15-year-old.
Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won the Orange Cap for IPL 2026 after finishing as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.
If the bowlers think going full would possibly steal time from the left-hander, they were wrong. Sooryavanshi tackled 44 full deliveries in the IPL, hitting 134 runs, a strike rate of 304.54, with 56.81% being smacked for a boundary.Not surprisingly, Sooryavanshi was kept quiet by yorkers – scoring just 2 runs in 12 balls. But what is surprising is that a full toss appears to be his undoing. He produced just 13 runs from 17 balls at a strike rate of 76.47.The numbers alone make Sooryavanshi’s season extraordinary, but they only tell part of the story. More significant is the manner in which he has forced bowlers to rethink long-held cricketing belief. Length balls disappeared, short balls were punished and even full deliveries offered little respite.As he prepares for a potential India step up, the challenge for bowlers will be to find answers and for the 15-year-old to stay a step ahead.
