Rajasthan Royals batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi says he wanted to silence his critics by letting his bat do the talking after an earlier IPL meeting where he struggled badly against Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Praful Hinge. In that first encounter, Hinge had struck immediately, taking four wickets and sending Sooryavanshi back for a duck. The young right-hander, making his IPL debut, couldn’t read a short-of-a-length delivery and ended up edging it behind to wicketkeeper Salil Arora.
But when the two sides locked horns again on Saturday, Sooryavanshi arrived with a more aggressive mindset and a specific plan. From the start, he put pressure on Hinge, smashing the pacer for four straight sixes right in the opening over. From there, his momentum didn’t fade—he went on to reach a century in just 36 balls. Even though SRH ultimately won the game, Sooryavanshi’s knock drew widespread admiration from fans and cricket observers for the sheer intent and execution he showed.
In a video posted by Rajasthan Royals on social media, the 15-year-old explained that the earlier dismissal had got under his skin. He said he was bothered by some of the comments after the duck and felt a strong urge to respond with his performance. “I went with a clear plan against the bowler. After getting out in the last match, I went back and checked my phone. I saw a lot of things. I usually don’t pay attention to those things, but when someone says something to me personally, it affects me a bit. I only wanted to answer with my bat,” he said.
Sooryavanshi also linked his blistering innings to the preparation he had carried into the match, insisting that he simply tried to repeat the same process he had been working on in practice. “You know how important it was for me. I was just trying to do exactly what I did in practice yesterday. I was playing with a free flow from the very first ball, and I planned to do the exact same thing today,” he added, speaking to RR manager Romi Bhinder.
During SRH’s chase, the youngster had to leave the field due to cramps. He later updated that he was feeling better and believed he would be available for Rajasthan Royals’ next game against Punjab Kings. “It’s fine now. I’m feeling better. I don’t know, my foot got stuck. I already had an ankle problem, so to avoid putting too much force on it, I pulled my hamstring. But it’s better now. I will recover in time for the next match.”
