Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a blistering 97 off just 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2026 Eliminator in New Chandigarh on Wednesday (May 27). His explosive knock included 5 fours and 12 sixes, powering Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a formidable 243/8 and a 47-run victory.

During the course of his whirlwind innings, Sooryavanshi surpassed Chris Gayle's long-standing tally of 59 sixes in an IPL season. By the end of his explosive innings, the youngster had 65 sixes to his credit in this year's IPL.

The 15-year-old fell just three runs short of a century, narrowly missing out on Gayle's record for the fastest IPL hundred (30 balls).

With this knock, the left-handed opener also reclaimed pole position in the Orange Cap race, with 680 runs from 15 innings at a staggering strike rate of 242.85, including a 36-ball hundred and four half-centuries.

Sooryavanshi’s stellar display in the knockout fixture drew him rich praise from the cricket fraternity. Pakistan Super League team owner Javed Afridi was also left in awe of the teenager’s incredible talent.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Afridi wrote: "Man, I’m truly blown away by 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 97 runs of pure brilliance! The way he played total edge-of-the-seat stuff. Talent like this at such a young age is so rare & special. That’s exactly why leagues like our PSL are so important that we need to create more platforms so our Pakistan boys get the same chance to showcase their talent & light up the world just like Vaibhav. Massive respect & love, kid. You’re a future superstar in the making! Keep rising."

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will be next in action during RR’s Qualifier 2 clash against the Gujarat Titans, scheduled for Friday (May 29) in New Chandigarh.

The winner of Qualifier 2 will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the title clash in Ahmedabad on May 31.