With Rajasthan Royals staring at a must-win situation, in the Eliminator of the IPL 2026, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi delivered one of the most explosive knocks in IPL history, smashing 97 off just 29 balls to power his side to the Qualifier 2, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs.
But, the young batting sensation from Bihar wasn’t finished yet. In the next clash against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2, Sooryavanshi scored 96. Although Rajasthan Royals kept losing wickets around him and ultimately went on to lose the game, the teenager had already cemented his status as the tournament’s standout performer.
His innings against SRH, which featured 12 towering sixes and a humongous strike-rate of 334.48, left players and fans in sheer disbelief. Among those stunned was England and SRH all-rounder Liam Livingstone.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he admitted, speaking on the Stick to Cricket Podcast. “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 lauded the youngster’s remarkable ability to adapt and dominate bowlers. “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… Well, hold on a minute, where do we bowl?” he added.
Sooryavanshi’s numbers in the recently concluded IPL were well and truly staggering — 776 runs in 16 innings at a strike-rate of 237.30, along 72 sixes in the season, breaking the previous record set by West Indies superstar, Chris Gayle. He walked away with multiple accolades including the Orange Cap, Most Valuable Player, Emerging Player and Super Striker of the Season awards.
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