Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took the LSG attack to the cleaners in Jaipur on Tuesday.
His brutal knock, studded with 7 fours and 10 sixes, helped RR chased down a formidable 221-run target with five deliveries to spare.
Speaking after the game, LSG head coach Justin Langer heaped praise on Sooryavanshi, admitting that the 15-year-old prodigy was the ultimate difference-maker.
"Yeah, well, yeah, ultimately if you scored 90... what'd he get, 94 off 36 balls? Um, and he's the one who inflicted those... those 73 runs off three overs, a lot of that. So, yes, from that point of view, he was the difference. Um, we got a couple of young bowlers who played today who will learn from the experience. They'll work out how grounding this game is," Langer said in the post-match press conference.
The former Australian opener couldn't hold back his admiration, noting how effortlessly the teenager has taken apart high-profile bowlers in the ongoing IPL.
"I was saying that the way he plays, it's... it's... it's quite... it's quite breathtaking, actually. And you know how I judge it? I think the last game, Mitchell Starc, and who's one of the all-time great white-ball bowlers, he's bowling and he's almost... you look at the expression on his face. And Nortje, who's a world-class international bowler, and Sooryavanshi's hitting them and they... the expression on their faces is such that, 'What is happening here?' So, whilst as an ex-batsman knowing how hard batting is, I think what is going on here? The bowlers are thinking what on earth is going on here? It's just... it is... it is quite... it's quite incredible, actually, to be able to play that way and now have the Orange Cap," Langer stated.
"You know, sometimes when players play like that, there's high risk to it, and yet he's doing it in every form of the game and scoring a lot of runs. And ultimately, that's what the game is about. And... and the scary thing is, the best way to learn how to make runs is to make runs, not by hitting some big sixes. And he makes runs over and over and over again. So, the scary thing going forward, if the expressions on the faces of Mitch Starc and Nortje and every bowler tell a story now, what about when he learns how to bat? My gosh, he's so young," he remarked.
When asked if Sooryavanshi has what it takes to excel in challenging overseas conditions, Langer highlighted the youngster’s "Sir Donald Bradman-like adaptability" to the situation.
"People say to me, 'Would Bradman have made so many runs on... in the days where, you know, there was... you know, they could wear helmets or blah, blah, blah?' And I say, well, he would have adapted. And... and Sooryavanshi is that good, wherever he plays, he's going to adapt his game because where are they going to bowl to him? Where, honestly, where are they going to bowl to him? So, he'll adapt. He'll keep getting better and better, which is scary for world cricket," Langer concluded.
With this win, Rajasthan Royals kept their IPL 2026 playoff hopes alive and will face Mumbai Indians in the last league match at Wankhede Stadium on May 24.