Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may have caught the imagination of the cricketing world with his exploits this season in the 2026 IPL but the secret to his success lies in the simplicity of his approach, according to his Rajasthan Royals teammate Dhruv Jurel. Jurel had himself played an impressive knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator on Wednesday – a 21-ball 50, but he and almost every player who took the field was overshadowed by Sooryavanshi’s record-breaking knock. The 15-year-old smashed 97 in 29 balls and over the course of the innings, he broke Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in an IPL season. He also fell just three runs short of Gayle’s record for fastest IPL century. “The best thing about Vaibhav that I have noticed is that he doesn’t plan anything,” Dhruv Jurel said at the post-match press conference. “Because he practices a lot and he always backs himself. That’s what he does every time he goes out and plays. The best thing about him is that he backs himself. He doesn’t even have a shadow of doubt that ‘I am not able to do it,” he added. ALSO READ | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi redefines possibilities of T20 batting with 29-ball 97 “When we go to an academy, (we are told) ‘Don’t watch the bowler, watch the ball’,” said Jurel. “As 17-year-olds, we always watch the bowler (and think) he’s a big name. But really, he just watches the ball. That’s all.” “His mantra is ‘I don’t want give a damn about any bowler’.” Having already scored 175 in the Under-19 World Cup final, Sooryavanshi showed no signs of pressure in the Eliminator. Put to bat first by Sunrisers Hyderabad, he raced to his fifty off 16 deliveries and maintained the tempo throughout his whirlwind knock. Sooryavanshi blasted a barrage of sixes with every SRH bowler, including captain Pat Cummins, bearing the brunt. Overall, the teenager hit as many as 12 sixes and five fours on the night. This took his tally of sixes for the season to a whopping 65. Gayle held the previous record of 59 which he had set in the 2012 season of the IPL. Sooryavanshi was born in March 2011.
Sooryavanshi’s mantra is ‘I don’t give a damn about any bowler’: Jurel
