Ravichandran Ashwin has seen plenty of remarkable batting over the years, yet even he was left genuinely stunned after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi produced a moment of pure dominance for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2026 on Saturday. The 15-year-old struck a century off just 36 balls, a knock that not only turned heads across India and the wider cricket world, but also stood out as a standout innings that was not even his quickest hundred in the tournament. The scale of the performance was so striking that Ashwin admitted his entire household has been swept up by the teenager’s rise, explaining that the excitement goes well beyond cricket talk and into family viewing routines.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after the match, Ashwin said Sooryavanshi’s batting deserved the highest praise. He described the emotion inside his home the moment the youngster got out, saying that everyone’s mood changed instantly—his mother and father included. Ashwin revealed that he and his parents watch RR games together, and that they have become some of the youngster’s most enthusiastic supporters. In Ashwin’s telling, his father’s admiration for Vaibhav is unlike anything he has seen before, with his joy growing shot by shot as the innings builds. Ashwin added that even the celebrations around Sooryavanshi have earned special reactions at home, with his mother repeatedly pointing out the youngster’s expressive moments and the way he performs.
Sooryavanshi, for his part, credited the brilliance of his century to a fearless approach and a clear backing of his natural style. He said there was no complicated plan for the first delivery, but that RR’s batting group had discussed how they wanted him to play. He specifically mentioned that Yashasvi Jaiswal urged the team to go out and express themselves freely that day, and that if an opening ball presented an opportunity, they should commit to their game. According to Sooryavanshi, that message translated directly into his execution from ball one, helping him seize control early.
The teenager also explained that his aggressive start—highlighted by four maximums in the opening over—was driven by instinct rather than overthinking. He said he did not sit there mentally working through every scenario; instead, he played the ball as it came. With the wicket offering a good feel, he leaned into his strengths and trusted his judgment, describing his mindset as simple but confident. He further revealed that while his preparation stays straightforward, it is far from careless, with a strong emphasis on visualisation before he walks out to bat.
In describing his pre-match routine, Sooryavanshi said he mentally studies the bowlers he is likely to face, maps out which shots he can play against them, and considers the size of the boundaries at either end. His aim, he explained, is to picture the key factors ahead of time so that once play begins, his decisions come more naturally. That blend of clarity and confidence appears to have paid off heavily, culminating in a century that has already placed him among the leading run-getters of the season.
At the time of writing, Sooryavanshi was sitting second on the list of most runs in IPL 2026, having amassed 357 runs across eight matches. He has done it at a strike rate of 234.86, underlining how quickly he can turn time at the crease into scoreboard pressure. With performances like the one against SRH, his rapid rise is starting to look less like a surprise and more like the start of a long, high-impact IPL journey.
