Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, a 15-year-old who scored 97 off 29 balls to help the Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 47 runs on Wednesday, May 27, in Mullanpur, received a lot of accolades from Kris Srikkanth.
Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes hit by a batter in an IPL season (59) was broken by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during the match. On Wednesday, the youthful player hit 12 sixes to raise his tournament total to 65. According to Srikkanth, breaking Gayle’s record so early in his career is an incredible accomplishment. The former captain of India asserted that not even Kapil Dev or Viv Richards could consistently dismantle bowling attacks.
“Now it’s about what name can be given to him on the lines of Universe Boss or God of cricket. The whole world is praising him. What Gayle did in his career, this kid is beating in his second season. It’ll be impossible for someone to beat what this kid is doing. He is not just slogging but playing very intelligent cricket,” Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“He hasn’t failed in consecutive innings this entire season and has scored in 11 out of the 15 innings. He is having the Orange Cap in his first full season itself. I’ve seen many players destroy attacks like Viv Richards and Kapil Dev. But I’ve never seen someone as explosive as him. Even Viv Richards and Kapil Dev didn’t consistently destroy attacks like this,” he added.
Regarding the IPL 2026 season, Kris Srikkanth said, “Everyone’s top-of-the-mind recall will be Vaibhav Vaibhav Sooryavanshi”
According to Srikkanth, this season will be known for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi outstanding batting performances, just as the 2016 IPL is remembered for Virat Kohli’s incredible run with the bat, where he hit a record 973 runs.
“Just like everyone’s recall about the 2016 IPL is Virat Kohli’s 970+ runs, this season, everyone’s top-of-the-mind recall will be Vaibhav Suryavanshi. This is Suryavanshi’s IPL, and it’s been all about him. And he does it so quietly without dishing out words,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
Up Friday, May 29, Srikkanth prophesied that the opening batsman in Qualifier 2 against the Gujarat Titans would put up yet another incredible display.
“Whenever a bowler removes him in the previous match, he specifically targets and smashes them. Last time against GT, Siraj will stare him down after dismissing him. I am sure that’s on Suryavanshi’s mind and Siraj might get the worst of Suryavanshi. It was against GT that he scored a century last season,” Srikkanth concluded.
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