CHENNAI: Moments after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fell for 96 from 47 balls in the 18th over, the teenager was sitting in the dugout before Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag came up to him. The captain was seemingly having a serious conversation with the 15-year-old who had just delivered again on one of the biggest stages.
However, the intense conversation, it seemed, wasnt just about the missed century - Sooryavanshi had missed out on the fastest hundred in the eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad two days ago when he fell for 97 - but something more. This innings, against Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 2, however, was more impactful. And somewhere, they might have felt a few more runs were left in the middle for the taking. RR, when Sooryavanshi fell, were 172/6 in 17.2 overs. Though Donovan Ferreira (38 n.o) took Rashid Khan for 27 runs, helping RR finish with 214/6, Sooryavanshi getting out with 16 balls left could have been the difference between 214 and, perhaps, a 235.
And that cost RR with both Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan keeping GT on course. Gill smashed a sensational century (104) as GT raced to 182/2 in 15 overs. Sai Sudharsan hit another fifty before getting hit wicket once again when the bat slipped and fell onto the stumps. Despite the brief nerves, Jos Buttler and Rahul Tewatia took them into the finals where the will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
That, however, does not take anything away from the sensational 96 of Sooryavanshi. It is arguably his best innings by far in his nascent IPL career. Unlike his usual gung-ho innings, where he smashes everything and everyone who came his way, the 15-year-old had to hold the innings together while doing a calculative assault.
And with good reason. GT, with their quality pace attack that features four Test pacers, rattled RR early on, reducing them to 9/2. Ravindra Jadeja (45 n.o) was promoted and he did well to play the rescue act, taking pressure of Sooryavanshi. For a change, the teenager played second fiddle, holding the innings together. He, and RR, knew that if he stayed for 20 overs, he would do enough damage anyway.
So much so that when Sooryavanshi reached his fifty in 31 balls, it was his slowest in the IPL. He had to slow down knowing full well Jadeja was retired hurt, and that led to an opening where RR were reduced to 118/5 in 12.4 overs. Then came the carnage. Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj and Jason Holder were sent to the stands in three consecutive overs despite the teenager getting hit on the helmet. One of the sixes off Holder, played like a tennis serve, landed over long-off.
Desperate for a breakthrough, Gill — who was already irked that the toss he won had to be redone because the match referee did not hear Parag’s call — turned to Washington Sundar and he was not spared either. From a 31-ball fifty, Sooryavanshi raced to 96 off 46 balls, taking 46 runs off four Test bowlers. And he did so despite the targeted bouncer barrage at his head — a potential weakness to exploit for a 15-year-old batting prodigy — from all four pacers. Eventually, it did work as he got out exactly the same way as he did against SRH, slicing Rabada to third-man.
For all the subplots that has unfolded this season, Sooryavanshi has been the protagonist of IPL 2026. And even if his 96, which perhaps will be compared to many of Sachin Tendulkar’s 90s, goes down in vain, Sooryavanshi emerges as the star not just of the season but the year. And he is here to stay.
Brief scores: RR 214/6 in 20 ovs (Vaibhav 96, Jadeja 45 n.o, Ferreira 38 n.o; Holder 2/27) lost to GT 219/3 in 18.4 ovs (Gill 104, Sai Sudharsan 58).