Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his IPL debut for RR against LSG in Jaipur in 2025.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi began his IPL career by hitting a six off the very first ball he faced against Lucknow Super Giants on his debut, making 34 runs off 20 balls.
He then became the youngest in IPL and T20 cricket to hit a century, which came against Gujarat Titans. He finished with 252 runs in 7 games in IPL 2025, with one century and one fifty, with a strike rate of 206.55, hitting 24 sixes.
Then, in his first full IPL season in 2026, Sooryavanshi broke records of huge magnitude, hitting 776 runs in 16 games, with one century and five fifties, with a strike rate of 237.30. He hit an eye-watering 72 sixes, breaking Chris Gayle’s record. He also hit the fastest century by an Indian in the IPL during this season.
Sanjiv Goenka believes that regardless of the situation, the franchise RR and its owner, Lakshmi Mittal, will definitely ensure that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi does not leave the franchise in the future. But if such a situation arises, then Goenka’s LSG, along with the other eight franchises, will definitely take advantage of this situation.
“Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is worth all the praise in the world. He is a generational talent. Every IPL team owner is upset that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is not part of their team. And now, since Lakshmi Mittal owns Rajasthan Royals, he will never let Vaibhav Sooryavanshi go anywhere. And if it ever happens, not just me… the entire IPL world of owners are waiting,” Goenka said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.
Additionally, Goenka has argued that he has carried out an initial evaluation of Sooryavanshi’s play, claiming that he maintains a fine balance between being confident and too confident. He claims that, besides having talent, this balance is what makes the athlete unique.
“Vaibhav’s first public image is in a Rising Pune Supergiant jersey. And he’s killing it today. He obviously has the talent and the shots, but it’s his confidence that captured my attention the most. Supreme confidence. Not overconfidence. When you get overconfident, that sparks the beginning of your downfall. Vaibhav has the confidence that ‘I can do it.' And whatever I have seen, he is improving with every game. His shots are perfect cricket shots. He is learning to alter himself a bit, and that will make him much more effective. He is a player for the big occasion,” he added.
Thanks to his IPL exploits, Sooryavanshi made his India T20I debut in England and won the Player of the Series award against Zimbabwe.