NEW DELHI: The wonder boy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has stunned everyone with his hard-hitting skills. In the crucial Eliminator clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals batting sensation smashed a 16-ball half-century in Mullanpur to power his team to a 47-run win and help them seal a place in Qualifier 2. Rajasthan Royals will now take on Gujarat Titans on Friday for a spot in the final of IPL 2026.A breathtaking knock of 97 runs off just 29 balls, studded with 12 sixes – that’s what Sooryavanshi produced against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The innings also saw him enter the history books by breaking Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL season. Sooryavanshi came into the contest with 53 sixes, six short of Gayle’s tally of 59.What if Sooryavanshi enters the IPL auction pool?Reacting to Sooryavanshi’s carnage, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh, who was on commentary duties, asked Virender Sehwag how much money he would pay if the teenager entered the auction.Without any hesitation, Sehwag, during the commentary, said he would pay Rs 30 crore, while former India batter Aakash Chopra was quick to respond that he would match the offer without thinking twice. Sooryavanshi was bought for Rs 1.10 core by RR in the IPL Auction. The 15-year-old has played 15 matches in IPL 2026 so far and scored 680 runs at an average of 45.33 and a breathtaking strike rate of 242.86, the highest in the ongoing tournament. He is also the Orange Cap holder.Former South Africa batter and IPL great AB de Villiers heaped praise on teenage sensation Sooryavanshi, stating that the opener’s game awareness at the age of just 15 is ‘remarkable’.“What stood out most about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s innings was his composure and clarity under pressure at just 15 years of age. Pat Cummins and Sunrisers Hyderabad kept trying different plans, constantly changing the field and mixing their lengths to disrupt his rhythm, but he stayed completely locked into his own bubble throughout the innings. That level of game awareness in a knockout match is remarkable for someone so young,” de Villiers told JioStar.“What’s most impressive about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the clarity he already has around his preparation and routines at just 15 years of age. Hearing him talk about visualising match-ups, studying bowlers, and mentally preparing before games shows a level of maturity that is very rare at that age,” he said.The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru star even compared Sooryavanshi’s approach to legendary Australian opener Matthew Hayden, known for his strong visualisation routines during his playing days.“It actually reminded me a little of Matthew Hayden, who used to spend time visualising on the pitch before batting. Over the course of his career, many of those routines will evolve, but the important thing is that Vaibhav is already building his own habits and processes instead of trying to copy others,” the Proteas great stated.
