Lalit Modi called Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ‘the face of Indian cricket in the future’, hailing the teenage Rajasthan Royals opener for his batting skills. The 15-year-old has been in dominant form this season, carrying on his momentum from his debut campaign. In IPL 2026, he is currently seventh in the Orange Cap race and also RR’s highest run-scorer, with 200 runs in five matches at an average of 40.00 and a strike rate of 263.15. The teenager has also registered two half-centuries.
Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 10, he clobbered 78 runs off 26 balls, packed with eight fours and seven sixes, striking at 300.00. Despite his whirlwind knock, he looked a little disappointed as he missed out on a ton.
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‘Is this real or is somebody making this up?’: Lalit Modi
Speaking to Michael Vaughan on Overlap Cricket, Modi revealed that during Sooryanavshi’s debut IPL season in 2025, he initially didn’t believe that the youngster was 14.
“I can tell you that kid is going to go out there and be the face of Indian cricket in the future. Look at the confidence on the kid’s face. 14 years old! My son is 14… I saw this kid hit, [I thought] ‘Not possible, I am dreaming. It’s not possible that this kid is 14. Seriously?’ I am Googling it, I am calling out people, [asking], ‘Is this real or is somebody making this up?’ And I am getting these messages, and I tell them I am watching. Not once, not twice, this guy has outperformed everybody,” he said.
Modi also feels that there are many more young, talented cricketers like Sooryavanshi in India, and it’s all due to the IPL’s impact. “The good thing is we probably have another 50 of them in our country,” he said.
“And this is what the IPL has done: it has opened up a whole arena for people to aspire to,” he added.
Sooryavanshi came into the limelight last year after Sanju Samson was sidelined due to an injury. He made his debut against Lucknow Super Giants, opening the batting for RR,, and became the youngest player in IPL history at 14 years and 23 days old.
Last year, he slammed 252 runs in seven matches at an average of 36.00 and 206.55 strike rate, packed with a half-century and a hundred. In IPL 2026, Sooryavanshi has forged a strong opening partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the pair have been key in RR’s third-placed position in the points table.