NEW DELHI: If the greatest knocks of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s record-shattering IPL 2026 campaign were to be ranked, his breathtaking assault against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator would sit right at the top. With Rajasthan Royals facing a do-or-die encounter, the 15-year-old batting sensation produced one of the most destructive innings in IPL history, hammering 97 off just 29 balls to power his side past Sunrisers Hyderabad and into Qualifier 2.The Bihar-born prodigy wasn’t done yet. In Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans, Sooryavanshi once again lit up the stage with a sensational 96. Although Rajasthan Royals eventually lost by seven wickets and fell short of a place in the final, the teenager had already cemented his place as the standout performer of the tournament.During his astonishing knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sooryavanshi smashed 12 sixes, leaving players and fans alike in disbelief. Among those left stunned was Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Liam Livingstone, a veteran of seven IPL seasons who admitted he had never witnessed anything quite like it.“I’ve never seen anything like it. And I’ve been there; this year was my seventh IPL. And I’ve played with and against some very good players, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Livingstone said on the Stick to Cricket Podcast.The England all-rounder was particularly impressed by Sooryavanshi’s ability to evolve through the course of the tournament and find answers to every challenge bowlers threw at him.“He’s just like the way he hits a ball, he hits a ball so clean, yeah. He never really mis-hits a ball, never really mis-hits a ball the whole time. And wherever the ball, the first time we got him out with a bouncer, first ball he hit it straight up. But then the development that he made as a player from the start of that tournament to the end was like… we were bowling bouncers and he was hitting it over third man, and then you’d bowl this side, he’d hit it there; you bowl full, he hit it there; bowl a low full toss, he’d flick it over there. And you’re like, ‘Well, hold on a minute, where do we bowl?'” Livingstone added.Sooryavanshi’s numbers from IPL 2026 were nothing short of extraordinary. The left-handed batter finished as the tournament’s highest run-scorer, amassing 776 runs in 16 innings at a staggering strike rate of 237.30.He also rewrote the record books by smashing 72 sixes during the season, breaking the previous IPL record of 59 sixes set by West Indies great Chris Gayle. His remarkable campaign included one century and five half-centuries, earning him both the Orange Cap and the Most Valuable Player award.
