Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals opening batter, has captured the imagination of fans and pundits alike, and it seems nothing can stop the youngster from becoming one of the biggest superstars the game has ever seen. Hence, it was no surprise to see the emotions get the better of Delhi Capitals’ pacer Kyle Jamieson when he stopped Sooryavanshi in his tracks and dismissed him for a rare single-figure score. A perfect low-dipping yorker got the better of Sooryavanshi, and the left-hander walked back after scoring just four runs, and it was then that a huge talking point surfaced.
After getting the better of the young opener, Jamieson celebrated in the face of Sooryavanshi and let out a huge roar. However, this send-off did not go down well with the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council and Jamieson was handed a warning and also a demerit point.
This call to punish Jamieson continues to generate polarising opinions, but amid the raging debate, the pacer received support from his New Zealand teammate Lockie Ferguson. The Punjab Kings speedster said that send-offs and celebrations are all part of the game, and it makes for good theatre when passion comes out.
“Kyle’s a good mate of mine. He got pretty fired up, which is pretty understandable. Not easy to get wickets in this part of the world, and that was a big one. So I think it’s part of the game. I think fans like to see the passion. I can’t comment on anything from a governing body point of view, but as a player, I think the passion coming out is great for the game,” Ferguson told reporters during a roundtable organised by Punjab Kings.
“As a fan of the game, you like to see players getting passionate, players showing emotion, players being excited to take a wicket. He’s obviously a big guy too, so when a big guy has a lot of emotions, it looks even bigger,” he added.
Sooryavanshi, who has scored 404 runs in the IPL 2026 season, has taken bowlers like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Jasprit Bumrah to the cleaners. The world was waiting to see the contest between Sooryavanshi and Mitchell Starc, but it wasn’t meant to be as Sooryavanshi did not face a single delivery against the left-armer and was dismissed by Jamieson.
Role of bowlers in T20Is
Ferguson, who played his first game for the Punjab Kings in the IPL 2026 against the Rajasthan Royals, said that everyone now knows that the T20 tournament will be high-scoring and there’s no point in discussing how the game has become heavily tilted towards the batters.
“It’s just the game. It’s the tournament. When you come into this competition, you know it is going to be high-scoring. The curators do fantastic jobs at these grounds. The wickets are amazing, and the talent coming out of India is remarkable. I think from an Indian point of view, it’s amazing to see this kind of talent coming through the ranks,” Ferguson said.
The experienced New Zealand pacer was also full of praise for his Punjab Kings captain, Shreyas Iyer, saying the batter has a remarkable head on his shoulders.
“Shreyas, I have played against him a lot. Played A cricket when we both were younger. You can see he has developed into a confident player. He has had a lot of ups and downs in his career. It’s not easy being a captain, I can imagine the pressure he’s under. He does it so well and he’s pretty consistent with his attitude,” said Ferguson.