IPL 2026: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to Mumbai Indians? Stuart Broad makes big claim in player retention

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest in IPL to make 400 runs in a single season.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was picked by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL 2025 auction for INR 1.10 crore, and many thought that the RR management had taken a huge risk by doing so. However, the then 14-year-old stunned everyone with a six off the first ball he faced on his IPL debut.

Sooryavanshi then hammered a century off just 35 balls, to the surprise of many. Sooryavanshi has just gone on to do better things than that, helping India win the U19 World Cup, with a scintillating 175 in the final.

This IPL 2026 Sooryavanshi became the fastest batter to 400 runs in a single season and also the youngest batter to achieve the feat. He also hit his second IPL century and became the youngest Indian and first uncapped player to hit more than one century in the IPL.

Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad praised the Rajasthan Royals' scouting system while offering an intriguing viewpoint.

"Fair play to the Rajasthan Royals' scouting system or academy system—whatever they have done. I remember when they signed him at the auction—he was 14, maybe even 13—and I thought it was a bit odd for top-flight domestic cricket to bring in someone so young. That's a lot of pressure, just having him around the squad for three years. What's the point of that? It's not as if you can sign him on a 10-year contract; he might just leave for the Mumbai Indians or something if given an opportunity," Broad told former England teammate Jos Buttler on the For the Love of Cricket podcast.

"I mean, to be fair, when he walks into his next player retention, he can go into the auction, if he wants, 'You have to give me some sort of numbers,” Broad added.

Buttler, on the other hand, was in awe of the way the 15-year-old dealt with the world-class bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins, hitting them for first-ball sixes.

“He is only 15, and he is playing with the fearlessness of peak Chris Gayle or Virender Sehwag—except those guys were 30 or 35 when they were doing it. He is just consistently whacking bowlers around the park. It's outrageous. That's the kind of player he is. When Rajasthan is playing, I feel like I need to switch on the TV just to watch him bat. He is that exciting. He got out on the first ball against Sunrisers in the previous game—popped one up, the risk that comes with playing that fearless brand of cricket—and then comes back next time and peels off a hundred against them," Buttler said.

Sooryavanshi will be in action when RR takes on Delhi Capitals on May 1 in Jaipur.