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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has yet again played another breathtaking knock in the ongoing IPL 2026. At just 15 years old, the Rajasthan Royals batter is playing cricket without any fear and shocking everyone with his unbelievable batting against top world-class bowlers.
In the IPL 2026 Eliminator at New Chandigarh, Vaibhav smashed a stunning 97 runs in just 29 balls and completely destroyed the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack. His fearless innings helped Rajasthan Royals to beat SRH by 47 runs to enter IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 on May 27.
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During the innings, SRH captain Pat Cummins and his bowlers kept changing plans to stop the RR teenage sensation. The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers tried short balls, yorkers, slower deliveries, and different field placements, but nothing worked against Vaibhav, who continued his assault without showing any pressure.
AB de Villiers left stunned by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s maturity under pressure
After his explosive innings against SRH in the IPL 2026 Eliminator, legendary South African batter AB de Villiers was full of praise for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The former RCB icon was really impressed by Vaibhav’s maturity, calmness, and smart thinking during the tough moments.
AB de Villiers was quoted as saying by JioStar, “What stood out most about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's innings was his composure and clarity under pressure at just 15 years of age. Pat Cummins and Sunrisers Hyderabad kept trying different plans, constantly changing the field and mixing their lengths to disrupt his rhythm, but he stayed completely locked into his own bubble throughout the innings.
That level of game awareness in a knockout match is remarkable for someone so young. It was an extraordinary display of fearless batting and showed why he is already being spoken about alongside some of the most explosive players the IPL has seen.”
AB de Villiers praises Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s preparation and mindset; compares him with Matthew Hayden
The former South African captain also praised Vaibhav’s preparation and understanding at such a young age. Vaibhav has many times spoken about visualizing matchups, studying bowlers, and mentally preparing before games, and De Villiers was in awe of this level of maturity at this age.
De Villiers even compared the left-handed batter’s approach with former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who was famous for visualizing situations before batting during his career.
The Proteas legend added, “It actually reminded me a little of Matthew Hayden, who used to spend time visualizing on the pitch before batting. Over the course of his career, many of those routines will evolve, but the important thing is that Vaibhav is already building his own habits and processes instead of trying to copy others.”
‘Building his own style already’: ABD
The former South Africa captain further pointed out that the best part about Vaibhav is that he is trying to build his own style and routines instead of copying others blindly. He believes that this mindset can help the RR youngster to become a big player in the future.
De Villiers signed off by saying, “The best players in the world eventually discover what works authentically for them, and Vaibhav already seems to have that understanding very early in his journey.” Notably, Sooryavanshi has already scored 680 runs at a blistering strike rate of over 230 in the ongoing IPL 2026.
