Former India player Mohammad Kaif had high praises for Rajasthan Royals’ wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi whose 78 off 26 helped RR make short work of the 202-run target set by Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Guwahati on Friday.
“Never has a 15-year-old made T20 batting look so easy. The bowlers he has hit for a boundary on their first ball include Bumrah, Hazelwood, Bhuvi – all big stars. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays cricket like it is a video game,” Kaif said in a tweet.
Sooryavanshi has taken on all comers this IPL season, slamming boundaries off world-class bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood. On Friday, he also took apart the RCB bowling lineup, taking them for 7 sixes and 8 fours.
Never has a 15-year-old made T20 batting look so easy. The bowlers he has hit for a boundary on their first ball include Bumrah, Hazelwood, Bhuvi – all big stars. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays cricket like it is a video game.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 10, 2026
The 15-year-old, who became the IPL’s youngest centurion last year with his knock of 101 runs against Gujarat Titans, has so far smashed 18 sixes and 18 boundaries in this IPL.
Sooryavanshi hit Hazlewood for one six and three boundaries off the four balls he faced from the pacer and also amassed 24 runs off nine balls from the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Earlier in the league, Sooryavanshi had hit Mumbai Indians and Indian pacer Bumrah for two sixes during his knock of 39 runs against the side in the Royals’ 27-run win over Mumbai.
Sooryavanshi shared how he tries to play the ball and not the bowler, even though it is on the back of his mind which bowler is bowling.
“Back of the mind, it is there (on who is bowling). I try to play the ball and not the bowler, and play my game. My dad, my coaches, my guardian Romi sir here, they keep telling me that the journey is long, and to focus on my process and my game, without diverting my mind to different things,” Sooryavanshi said to broadcasters after the Royals’ six-wicket win on Friday.
