The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 ended a couple of days back, but one still can’t get over the brilliance of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The Rajasthan Royals’ opening batter, aged 15, hammered all the bowlers to all parts of the ground and didn’t hesitate in going after seasoned pros like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood. The left-handed batter won five major awards, including the Orange Cap and Most Valuable Player of the Season.
Sooryavanshi’s blitz has now also led Sachin Tendulkar to take notice of his talent, and the youngster has made his way into the Master Blaster’s biggest talking points of the IPL 2026 season. The opening batter smashed 776 runs in the 19th edition of the T20 tournament at a strike rate of 237.31, including one century and three ninety-plus scores.
However, Tendulkar reckons that Sooryavanshi’s influence on the games went beyond the runs he scored, as the opposition was always wary of his threat. He also lauded the player from Samastipur, Bihar, for maintaining his intent even under the most pressure.
“Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had an influence on games that went beyond the runs he scored. Oppositions were thinking about him, teams were planning for him, and fans were waiting for him long before he arrived at the crease,” Tendulkar wrote in a Reddit post.
“His ability to score rapidly in both the Eliminator and the Qualifier showed that his intent remained unchanged, even as the pressure increased. More importantly, his batting seemed to give Rajasthan Royals an added sense of belief every time he walked out to the middle,” he added.
Sooryavanshi carnage
The left-handed batter was the biggest reason behind the Royals reaching Qualifier 2. He played a 97-run knock off just 29 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad to help his team set up a knockout game against the Gujarat Titans in Mullanpur.
The contest against Titans then saw Sooryavanshi scoring 96; however, this knock wasn’t enough for the team to progress to the final. Shubman Gill came up with a masterclass, helping the Titans chase down the target of 215.
Sooryavanshi then attended the IPL 2026 final between RCB and GT and was spotted seated in the same box as Jay Shah, Sourav Ganguly, Rajeev Shukla and more. The batter was also accompanied by the Royals team manager, Romi Bhinder.
The teen prodigy will next be seen in action in the India A’s tri-nation series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A, beginning June 9. It will be interesting to see whether he gets picked in the senior India squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England.