15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Scripts IPL History Once Again, Breaks Elite Sixes Record

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has amassed 440 runs this season, averaging 40 with a strike rate of over 230, highlighted by a century and two half-centuries.

15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Scripts IPL History Once Again, Breaks Elite Sixes Record

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the 'youngest' and 'fastest' to a sixes record. (via MoneyControl)

In Short
  • Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the fastest player to reach 100 sixes in T20 cricket, achieving the milestone in just 514 balls.
  • He scored 36 runs off 16 balls in Rajasthan Royals' match against Gujarat Titans, who won by 77 runs.
  • Sooryavanshi's mentor suggested he is ready for Test cricket, but should not play as an opener.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi appears unstoppable, as the teenage sensation broke two T20 records during the Rajasthan Royals’ recent outing against the Gujarat Titans. Despite the 15-year-old’s individual score of 36 runs off 16 balls, he was unable to lead his team to victory.

RR slumped to its fifth defeat of the season against GT, a result that dropped them out of the top four standings for the first time this summer. The visitors, after being put to bat first, raced to a massive first-innings total of 229/4, guided by knocks from Shubman Gill (84 off 44), Sai Sudharsan (55 off 36), and Washington Sundar (37* off 20). The Royals, in response, were bowled out for 152 runs in 16.3 overs, as the Titans won by 77 runs.

In spite of the heavy defeat, the spotlight remained firmly on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who continued with the tradition of tormenting bowlers from the very beginning. The 15-year-old RR opener’s quickfire 36 run-knock comprised three fours and the same number of sixes. He went after the likes of veteran pacers, hitting Mohammed Siraj for a six and three boundaries, and Kagiso Rabada for two maximums. 

His stay on the crease however, was brief, as he was dismissed by Siraj in just the third over. However, Sooryavanshi did not leave without etching his name in history books once again, this time going past a T20 world record.

He became the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 100 sixes in the shortest format of the game, achieving it in a record 514 balls. He accomplished this feat in remarkable fashion, hitting a six off the very first ball he faced in the innings against Siraj.

The IPL’s youngest-ever debutant, the Royals’ opener, now has a staggering 102 sixes in T20 cricket from as few as 19 matches. For the fastest sixes record, he went past Austria’s Karanbir Singh (813 balls) and West Indies’ legend Kieron Pollard (843 balls). Reflecting his aggressive style, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also became the youngest player to reach this milestone, at just 15 years and 43 days old.

Sooryavanshi also surpassed Abhishek Sharma, on the list of most sixes hit by a player during the powerplay in a single IPL season. In just 11 games, the U-19 star has hit 30 maximums in the first six-over phase, while Sharma hit 29 sixes in 2024. 

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Mentor’s take: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ready for India Test squad, but not as an opener 

Calls for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s inclusion in the Indian team has grown louder, especially with him in great form in IPL 2026. However, Rajasthan Royals director Zubin Bharucha surprisingly suggested that the 15-year-old is also prepared to make his Test debut. 

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Test cricket
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s mentor Zubin Bharucha suggested that the 15-year-old is prepared to make his Test debut for India. (via NDTV Sports)

Bharucha was the person responsible for bringing the budding young talent to RR, and is considered the left-hander’s mentor. Speaking to Wisden, the 56-year-old strongly stated that Sooryavanshi has all the qualities necessary to become a red-ball player, and that he has excelled in every batting metric. He even urged the BCCI to make a Sachin Tendulkar-like ‘risk’, allowing the left-hander to make an early debut.

If you look at it from any sort of metric, score, strike-rate, run scored, he [Sooryavanshi] is already ahead of so many people waiting in line. I actually feel they need to take that leap of faith, as they did with Sachin Tendulkar, and blood him straightaway.

While there is no doubt about the youngster’s preparedness, Bharucha suggested that he avoid playing as an opener in the longest format. Although the teenager has spent his career opening the innings, the former pacer asserted that his true potential lies further down the order, noting his tendency to play on the back foot. He projected that Sooryavanshi could eventually fill Rishabh Pant or Ravindra Jadeja‘s role.

I feel that opening isn’t his calling. He [Vaibhav Sooryavanshi] has so much more to offer that we would be amiss to say that ‘go into the opening slot straightaway’.

Sooryavanshi might be considered for the Indian squad for the upcoming tour of Ireland. It is anticipated that a young playing XI will be fielded for the two T20Is, set to begin on June 26th at the Civil Service Cricket Ground in Belfast.

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