Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finished the IPL 2026 season as the leading run-scorer.
Playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finished the IPL 2026 season as the leading run-scorer with 776 runs at a staggering strike rate of 237.30, including one hundred and five half-centuries.
Along the way, the teenage prodigy shattered major milestones. At just 15 years and 65 days, he set a new IPL record as the youngest Orange Cap winner.
The southpaw became the fastest player in history to score 1000 IPL runs in terms of balls faced (440 balls) and the first to smash 500 powerplay runs in a single edition. He also broke Chris Gayle's long-standing record for most sixes in an IPL season (59 sixes set in 2012) by hammering 72 sixes across 16 matches.
As a result, Sooryavanshi swept five major honors at the post-tournament awards ceremony, being named the Most Valuable Player, Emerging Player of the Season, Super Striker of the Season, Orange Cap winner, and Super Sixes of the Season.
Following his unprecedented dominance in age-group cricket and domestic circuit lately, Sooryavanshi has reportedly been included in India's 30-member probables list for the 2026 Asian Games.
While several former cricketers have advocated for his inclusion in the senior Indian team after seeing his stunning exploits in the IPL 2026, ex-India batter Ajay Jadeja put the same question to BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar on the sidelines of the IPL final in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31).
“How much better can he perform? I saw the chairman and asked him ‘Mr. Chairman! When will you pick Vaibhav Sooryavanshi? If not now, then when? Irrespective of his age, how could anyone possibly bat better than this?” Jadeja said.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, who was also in attendance at the final, strongly hinted that a national team debut for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is imminent.
"It was a wonderful season... I hope the fans had a lovely time during this IPL, and congratulations to RCB for winning the tournament consecutively twice. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is a wonderful player coming up, and he has a bright future. BCCI will do everything to get him to the highest level of cricket," Saikia told reporters.
When India’s squads for the one-off Test and three ODIs against Afghanistan Tests were announced last month, Agarkar had acknowledged Sooryavanshi brilliance, but cited that several players were ahead of him in the pecking order.
“We picked him for the India A team because he is young and immensely promising. The idea is to give these youngsters exposure. Yashasvi Jaiswal is already part of the ODI set-up as well. As impressive as Sooryavanshi has been, there are others who have performed strongly too. We are very excited about him and hopefully he can showcase his talent when he travels with the A team,” Agarkar had said.
Subsequently, the selection committee picked Sooryavanshi in the India A squad for the 50-over matches against Sri Lanka later this month.