The 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi unleashed carnage against Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) pace bowlers in the powerplay overs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener took the game away from the visitors while the fielding restrictions were in place. After the defeat, RCB’s experienced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar doffed his hat to the youngster saying that they tried everything but couldn’t stop him before he did considerable damage.
“It’s a T20 game. Yes, he is young, but he is batting very well and very maturely. We never feel that somebody is trashing us. If a 15-year-old can bat like this, whether he is a 25-year-old or 15-year-old, it’s part of T20 cricket,” Bhuvneshwar said in the post-match press conference.
“We had our plans. There was a catch drop, but these things happen in cricket. We couldn’t execute what we wanted to do, and that’s part of the T20 format. We are not too worried.”
RCB missed Suyash
Bhuvneshwar rued the absence of leg-spinner Suyash Sharma who they couldn’t use as an impact player. As RCB were 125/7, they had to bring in Venkatesh Iyer as an impact player. Skipper Rajat Patidar's fifty and Iyer's 15-ball 29 cameo helped RCB post 201/8 on the board. As a result, they missed the services of an in-form Suyash.
"We tried what we could do. I know that from the outside, the game looks a little slow compared to how it looks inside. But we did what we could, like using a fast bowler and bowling in different ways. Vaibhav played good shots. So I think we felt that we couldn't do anything different. It is difficult to use spinners in powerplay, and we had only one left-arm spinner, as we used an Impact instead of Suyash. So we didn't have an off-spinner, and for a left-arm bowler to face a left-arm batter, it makes sense. We did what we could do, and he batted really well," the pacer said.
“The way he is hitting shots – he is not slogging, he is playing proper cricket shots. For a 15-year-old, he is too mature. He deserves all the credit for the way he is batting,” he added.
Sooryavanshi smashed seven sixes and eight fours in his 26-ball 78. The youngster hit Bhuvneshwar for three fours and two sixes in the powerplay overs. Eventually, he was dismissed by left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya.