NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals’ teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and his habit of terrorizing bowlers is no secret. It began in the last IPL, continued during India’s triumphant 2026 Under-19 World Cup campaign, and is still going strong in IPL 2026. The boy from Bihar has unleashed six-hitting mayhem, creating fear among bowlers and opposition teams alike. More importantly, he continues to live up to the promises he makes.Rajasthan Royals were in a must-win situation against an already-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants side after suffering three consecutive defeats. Watching head coach Kumar Sangakkara’s tense face, the 15-year-old walked up to him and said, “ho jayega.”He then padded up and marched out to the middle.The conversation took place after Rajasthan Royals opted to bowl first against LSG.After LSG posted a mammoth 220/5, Sooryavanshi was at his destructive best, smashing a blistering 93 off just 38 balls as Rajasthan Royals chased down 221 with ease to keep their playoff hopes alive. RR secured a seven-wicket victory with five balls to spare.Sooryavanshi hammered 10 sixes and seven fours in a breathtaking innings.After the match, Sooryavanshi spoke to Rajasthan Royals team manager Romi Bhinder and revealed the promise he had made to Sangakkara.“He was actually not playing well for us since 2-3 matches. We had those matches. I was watching him and he was under a lot of pressure. Even today when I was paddling up to score 220, there was a lot of tension and stress on his face. But I was confident today that I will get my game back and do better. [Actually, things hadn’t been going well for us for the last 2-3 matches. We were losing games. I could see that he was under a lot of pressure. Even today, when I was padding up to chase 220, there was a lot of tension and stress on his face. But I was confident that today I would back my game again and do well]” Sooryavanshi said.“So I told them that ‘it will go’, there is not much score according to this wicket. Don’t take tension. [So I told him, ‘It will happen.’ It’s not a very big score according to this wicket. There’s no need to take tension]” he said.The 15-year-old opener has already smashed 53 sixes this season, leaving him just six short of Chris Gayle’s record of 59 maximums in a single IPL edition.In the process, the teenage prodigy became the first Indian batsman in IPL history to hit 50 sixes in a single season.He also became the youngest player in tournament history to reach 500 runs and maintained the highest strike rate ever in a 500-plus-run IPL season at 236.3.
Should the Rajasthan Royals build their strategy around young players like Sooryavanshi?