It was a match that promised much, but turned into an entirely one-sided contest that few saw coming.
When Archer and Burger ripped through the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) top order and reduced them 38-4 inside the power play, the writing was on the wall. It would always be an uphill task from there. Shivam Dube entered the fray and nonchalantly slammed a first-ball six off Jadeja, but it was the bowler who had the last laugh, as he lulled Dube into a false shot that was snaffled at long off. At that point, CSK were 57-6, having seen their impact sub enter and then get dismissed after a brief cameo. There was no coming back from that, even though Overton made the score respectable by batting with grit and application.
And then there was Sooryavanshi.
Many wondered if the tyro was the real deal, and if he would suffer through second-season syndrome, as some had before him. Of all the young players at IPL 2026, his name was perhaps the brightest.
If anyone had any doubts, it would have been swatted away with the same disdain Sooryavanshi reserved for the bowlers. Numbers don’t bring out the full measure of his dominance, but it helps paint a picture.
Peruse this. In a match where Samson, Ruturaj, Mhatre, Short, and Dube cumulatively scored 37 runs, Vaibhav scored 52 runs. Those runs were knocked off in a mere 17 balls at a run rate of 18.35. The rest of the batsmen over the course of the entire match put up 181/11 off 175 balls, at a run rate of 6.20. Staggering numbers by any measure.
To think he scored that on a pitch where the opposition couldn’t get past 130, and his opening partner (who is a fantastic talent in and of himself) batted at a strike not much more than 100 is insane and gives pause for thought.
Sooryavanshi will doubtlessly make his full India debut within a year, perhaps even as early as the Ireland tour, but he should be managed with great care. After all, the lad is only 15 years of age, and he will likely need a consent form from an adult to go on tour. But he is a hugely precocious talent that cannot be ignored for much longer, if he keeps showing this form.
One’s mind goes to the legendary John Woodcock, who in his column in the Times in the early ‘90s spoke of Tendulkar (then still in his teens) as the best young player in the world. But he wondered if anchoring that question in Sachin’s age was doing him a disservice, and if he was instead just one of the best in the world, end of. The same argument comes to mind for Sooryavanshi, and the sky is the limit for this incredibly talented youngster.
The meme-makers and fanbases online had something of a field day, with some jesting that the only person who could possibly have loved that CSK performance was Greta Thunberg, since they played so many dot balls and consequently helped grow India’s green cover. But the truth is CSK could have put up 200, and it would likely still have been chased down, so woeful was their bowling display. That Rajasthan Royals won with almost 8 overs to spare doesn’t paint the full picture; they took their foot somewhat off the pedal post Sooryavanshi’s departure, and could have won even sooner.
But we’ll leave that conjecture for another day, and instead revel in Sooryavanshi’s masterclass. Because how often do you see a generational superstar take flight? Sit back, and enjoy the ride. Sooryavanshi’s at the wheel, and he only knows how to bat in top gear.
