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“Boss Baby” Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has once again dominated online discourse after his exploits in the IPL 2026 Eliminator on Wednesday.
Following his innings of 97 runs from just 29 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sooryavanshi powered RR into Qualifier 2, where they will face the Gujarat Titans.
After he broke several IPL records with his knock, T20 legends like Chris Gayle and Andre Russell took to their social media accounts to shower praise on the 15-year-old.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sets the Sunrisers’ campaign
At the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, Sooryavamshi decided to make SRH captain Pat Cummins regret his decision to bowl first. Sooryavanshi started with a six off Cummins in the very first over before adding another against Eshan Malinga in the next.
In the third over, Vaibhav hit Cummins for three sixes in a row and then added three more off Sakib Hussain in the fourth. By the end of the powerplay, Sooryavanshi was batting on 60 runs from 20 balls and had already hit 8 sixes.
His assault continued even with the field restriction open, as he added four more sixes after the powerplay before holing out off Praful Hinge for 97 runs from 29 balls, and falling short of Chris Gayle’s record of the fastest IPL century, which he made in 30 balls.
Post Vaibhav’s dismissal, none of the other RR batters could really continue from his excellent work. Dhruv Jurel made a 20-ball fifty, but everyone else was limited to cameos that took RR to 243.
SRH might have fancied themselves to chase the total down, but it was not to be. Jofra Archer dismissed the famed top three of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, and Ishan Kishan within the powerplay itself, and SRH never recovered from it. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Salil Arora got starts, but they only delayed the inevitable as RR won by 47 runs.
Chris Gayle and Andre Russell praise Sooryavanshi
On Wednesday, T20 legends Chris Gayle and Andre Russell took to their respective Instagram accounts and posted stories in praise of Sooryavanshi. Gayle posted screenshots from the official IPL broadcast and wrote, “Carnage @vaibhav_sooryavanshi09, unlucky there, but you will get there eventually”.
Gayle posted a second story showcasing Sooryavanshi’s record and wrote, “Outstanding @vaibhav_sooryavanshi09, a new six machine @iplt20.”
Russell also reserved high praise for the boy wonder and asked him not to worry about any allegations of age fraud. An old interview of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has led people to believe that he is approximately one-and-a-half years older than his stated age.
“Congratulations, youngster. Haters will say that you are not 15 years old, who cares? 30-year-olds out here trying their best to do what you are doing. Keep going, I'm a big fan. See ball, hit ball,” Russell wrote.
Chris Gayle's Instagram stories for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. 😍❤️ pic.twitter.com/O05LVrQxSp
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 28, 2026
Andre Russell’s Instagram story for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. pic.twitter.com/d9gtHkAoD8
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 27, 2026
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in IPL 2026
In only his second IPL season, Sooryavanshi has become the best batsman in the tournament and is having one of the greatest T20 seasons by any batter ever.
In 15 matches, Sooryavanshi has totalled 680 runs and currently holds the Orange Cap. His runs have come at an average of 45.33 and a strike rate of 243. He has made 4 fifties and a century so far. And his 65 sixes are the most in a single season of the IPL.
