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Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins making ‘Plan B or Plan C’ for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 Eliminator on May 27. Cummins said that while the bowlers were stick to their strengths in Mullanpur, they have been working on plans for the 15-year-old. After a duck, Sooryavanshi got a century against SRH but Australia’s Test and ODI captain says that there were patches where they were able to keep the 15-year-old quiet as well.
“It’s always a balance of, as a bowler, understanding what you do well and how you’re going to bowl to your strengths. But when there are probably one or two players in every lineup who can take the game away from the opposition, you do spend a little bit longer working on a Plan B or Plan C," Cummins told JioStar.
“So, yeah, we’ll plan for him. Even though he got a hundred against us last time, I thought there were times when we actually bowled quite well to him and kept him quiet. At other times, he got away from us. So, we’ll learn from that," he added.
From golden duck to 37-ball 103
Last month, Praful Hinge on his debut got Sooryavanshi out for a golden duck with a back of the length delivery. Nearly two weeks later, Sooryavanshi took revenge with a 37-ball 103. He hit pacer Hinge for four consecutive sixes in the first over to prove a point. Despite Sooryavanshi’s blazing ton, SRH beat RR again in the season.
Sooryavanshi’s impact in IPL 2026
The hard-hitting southpaw is in the race for orange cap. From 14 innings, he has 583 runs at an average of 41.64 and strike rate of 232.27. He has hit 53 sixes in the season already and will look to break legendary Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in a single IPL edition.
The last time Sooryavanshi played in Mullanpur, the Eliminator venue, he scored 43 runs from just 16 balls, featuring five sixes and three fours.
Cummins yet to show his best
Meanwhile, Cummins has not been at his best. Started playing in the second half of the league stage, he has eight wickets from seven games, averaging just over 30. His economy rate is 8.67 runs per over.
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