Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the flavour of the season. He has teed off from where he left last year at the IPL, climbing up to the second position on the top scorers list already this year.
His 357 runs in eight matches have come at an impressive average of 44.62 and a staggering strike rate of 234.86 – the highest among the top 10 Orange Cap contenders in IPL 2026. Last year, at 14, he became the youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket when he smashed 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans – his hundred, off 35 deliveries, was the second-fastest in IPL history. He scored 252 runs in seven games in IPL 2025, at a strike rate of 206.55.
Numbers suggest that he is going from strength to strength, and that too, in style. Sooryavanshi scored his second IPL century – 103 off 37 balls – against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, but ended up on the losing side. Nevertheless, he has added yet another fan to his long list of admirers – SRH skipper Pat Cummins.
"Yeah, I think he's my new favourite player,” Cummins said after the match. “He hits the ball so hard, it's great to watch. It's good fun."
Off the field, too, Sooryavanshi has been the poster boy, especially for young fans. An adorable video posted by Rajasthan Royals earlier today, revealed the prankster in him.
In the video, the 15-year-old is seen telling two young fans, who approached him for a click, that he charges ₹100 for a picture. And because, there were two of them, they would have to shell out ₹200, Sooryavanshi is seen telling the kids, with a straight face.
The two kids manage to find the money and offer it to him, only for Sooryavanshi to reveal that it was a prank.
Baccha party always a step ahead 😂 pic.twitter.com/locrozR0Yh
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 27, 2026
Notably, in the match against SRH, Sooryavanshi became the youngest and fastest player, in terms of balls faced, to reach 1,000 runs in the T20 format. He achieved the milestone having faced only 473 balls in the format.
He surpassed the previous record held by Australia's Mitchell Owen, who reached 1,000 T20 runs in 533 balls. Sooryavanshi's century also ranks as the third fastest in IPL history, trailing only Chris Gayle's 30-ball century in 2013 and Sooryavanshi's own remarkable 35-ball hundred last year.
When asked about his explosive batting against the SRH, Sooryavanshi said, "There wasn't much thinking. I just played according to the ball. The wicket felt good, so I backed my game. I think about which bowlers are in the opposition, what shots I can play against them.... I try to visualise all of that."
