Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rise has become the kind of IPL storyline that even veteran internationals talk about with a grin. Stuart Broad and a handful of his cricketing mates have reportedly set up a WhatsApp group that goes off the moment the teenage sensation starts firing. Broad, speaking with former England team-mate Jos Buttler, explained that every time they think they’ve finally found the right plan to slow him down, Sooryavanshi responds with a new look or a different shot, leaving them chasing the next twist.
After a brief spell where he went quiet for a few matches by his own standards, Sooryavanshi returned in emphatic fashion, striking 93 to help Rajasthan Royals chase down 220 posted by the Lucknow Super Giants. That knock did more than lift the chase—it also saw him reclaim the Orange Cap and set a remarkable milestone. Sooryavanshi became the youngest batter to reach the 500-run mark in a single IPL season, underlining how quickly he’s stacking up impact performances.
Broad’s description of the group chat captures the rhythm of how opponents experience him. He said that when Sooryavanshi gets going, the messages start immediately—something along the lines of “he’s off again,” before the conversation quickly turns to the latest idea they think might work, whether it’s a specific tactic for bouncers or a set plan built around yorkers. The punchline, Broad added, is that just when they believe they’ve cracked the code, Sooryavanshi finds another gear and changes the game again.
Buttler calls him “one step ahead”
Buttler, in particular, has been full of praise. Earlier in the tournament, he had even referred to Sooryavanshi as “AI” after watching the youngster’s decision-making and pace of adaptation. With already several records written across the two seasons he has played for RR, the teenager now stands on the verge of what could be the biggest individual marker of his young career. He is only six sixes away from matching Universe Boss Chris Gayle’s benchmark for the most maximums in a single IPL season. Rajasthan Royals’ last league match of the campaign is against the Mumbai Indians, giving Sooryavanshi a clear opportunity not only to level the record but also to potentially surpass it.
Buttler also drilled into the bigger picture of Sooryavanshi’s power-hitting. He said that last night’s innings included several more sixes, bringing him to the front in a specific category: the most sixes by an Indian batter in an IPL season. Buttler noted that Sooryavanshi is already over the 50 mark—citing 53 sixes—and suggested that Gayle remains just ahead with a small margin for the all-time seasonal six record. In Buttler’s view, the gap is close enough that Sooryavanshi can still write his own chapter at the top of the list.
To explain why Sooryavanshi’s hitting looks so relentless, Buttler pointed to how he plays in the powerplay. He said he has watched the youngster in those early overs and highlighted the pattern: the number of balls per boundary in the powerplay has been around two, meaning that essentially every other delivery in that phase goes for either a four or a six. Buttler called that “crazy” and connected it to what makes Gayle’s record so special—describing the former West Indies star as the best T20 player he believes has ever played, particularly in terms of six-hitting, with the cited number being 59 maximums.
For Buttler, the common thread in all of it is not only the runs or the sixes, but the constant sense that Sooryavanshi is already planning one step further. “He’s one step ahead of everyone,” Buttler said, summing up the same feeling Broad described—plans get formed, tactics get tested, and then Sooryavanshi moves again, right on cue.
