Cricket fans are increasingly fixated on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s explosive rise. The teenage sensation has even made his way into the WhatsApp circle of former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, where the group’s reaction to his IPL moments has turned into a running joke. Broad, chatting with former England teammate Jos Buttler, explained that his private WhatsApp chat—made up of fellow cricket followers—goes into overdrive whenever Sooryavanshi takes charge with the bat in the ongoing IPL season.
Buttler, who is part of Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026, drew attention to how close Sooryavanshi is to surpassing Chris Gayle’s benchmark for the most sixes in a single IPL campaign. Sooryavanshi represents Rajasthan Royals, and Buttler suggested that with just a handful of maximums left in the season, he could soon move into an all-time spot in the six-hitting charts.
“Talking about sixes, our friend Vaibhav smashed a few sixes again last night. He’s now hit the most sixes for sure by an Indian player in an IPL. He’s over 50—53, I think—in the season. And I believe it’s only Gayle who’s just ahead of him, maybe by one or two more sixes, for the overall record of most sixes in a season,” Buttler said on the “For The Love Of Cricket” podcast.
Buttler also pointed to Sooryavanshi’s effectiveness during the powerplay, highlighting how the teenager’s boundary-hitting frequency has been extremely difficult to manage. “I’ve watched him bat in the powerplay—stats galore, right? Balls per boundary in the powerplay is two. So every other ball in the powerplay, he hits a four or a six, which is just crazy. Chris Gayle—best T20 player to ever play the game, especially in terms of six-hitting—I think the record he has is 59. He’s one step ahead of everyone,” Buttler added.
Broad then expanded on the idea that opposing plans keep failing as soon as the batter starts accelerating. He said that whenever he and his WhatsApp contacts believe they’ve worked out a strategy to slow Sooryavanshi down, the 15-year-old finds a way to surprise them again. Broad described the pattern of his group’s reactions, saying that even when they think a specific bowling approach might work, Sooryavanshi quickly overturns it with another standout spell at the crease.
“I’ve got a little WhatsApp group that’s with mates who love their cricket, and every time he gets going, it’s like, ‘He’s off again—43 off 17.’ And then it comes back, ‘I thought we’d worked him out—bouncer and Yorker theory,’” Broad said.
Sooryavanshi’s form has also placed him in the hunt for the Orange Cap this season. He has amassed 579 runs in 13 innings, striking at 236.32 and averaging 44.53, with one century and three fifties included in that tally. With 53 sixes so far, he is the leading Indian for maximums in a single IPL edition, underlining why his big-hitting has become the talk of the tournament.
