IPL stalwarts Ambati Rayudu, Aaron Finch, and Tom Moody were clearly impressed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s explosive run in the 2026 season, yet they stopped short of crowning him as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. The 15-year-old batter left plenty of observers in awe with a massive tally of 776 runs across 16 matches for Rajasthan Royals. Beyond finishing as the leading run-getter of the competition, Sooryavanshi also collected several highlight honours, including the most sixes in the tournament with 72.
Even as the Bihar-born batter continues to receive widespread admiration, the trio still placed Sunil Narine’s 2024 campaign at the very top when ranking the greatest individual IPL season. The former West Indies all-rounder produced his best work that year—striking for 488 runs at a strike rate of 181, while also taking 17 wickets. His all-round impact played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders delivering their third title triumph.
During their discussion, the experts acknowledged Sooryavanshi’s obvious class and exceptional promise, but maintained that Narine’s overall output in 2024 edges ahead in the head-to-head comparison of individual seasons. Rayudu set the tone with a clear verdict, saying Narine stands out as the best personal IPL season because he was required to do much more than simply bat. He referenced the challenge of opening the batting against quality pace and added that the overall standard of that year surpassed other great campaigns, including those put together by Warner, calling both seasons impossible to separate.
Finch backed Rayudu’s view and placed Narine firmly at the top. He highlighted Narine’s excellence as both a bowler and a batter, pointing out that the spinner-like all-rounder took crucial wickets, contributed important runs, struck at 181, and kept his economy rate to 6.7. Finch also underlined the full-circle nature of the season—opening the batting, delivering across phases of the innings, and then winning the title—before concluding that it remains the greatest season of all time.
Moody then added a further statistical angle, stressing that Narine’s economy rate in 2024 stayed under seven while his batting output was close to 11 runs per over. He described Narine as the champion and remarked that the run-scoring impact was unlike anything seen previously, while also noting how extraordinary it was to still claim 17 wickets at 6.7 in the same campaign.
When the conversation turned back to Sooryavanshi, Rayudu and Moody both suggested that the teenager still needs to prove his value across a wider range of playing conditions before the MVP label can be fully justified. Rayudu’s point was that whenever the surface slowed down, Sooryavanshi tended to depart early, and therefore he must show consistent performance on tougher wickets. Moody, meanwhile, pointed to the modern context of the league, noting that today’s Impact Player era generally makes batting far more manageable than it was in earlier years.
Moody also explained that comparing IPL eras is complicated by changing bowling dominance. He argued that in the past, match influence from bowlers such as Narine, Amit Mishra, and Rashid Khan was more pronounced, whereas that level of impact has reduced significantly in the present. That shift, Moody said, is a serious factor when trying to judge players across different IPL generations.
