Another match day, another Vaibhav Sooryavanshi statement. The Rajasthan Royals opener carried forward the momentum from his IPL 2026 Eliminator knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but this time he couldn\u2019t quite reach the three-figure mark. In Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans at Mullanpur on Friday, the 15-year-old was dismissed for 96, falling just short of what looked like a certain century as he once again punished a high-quality bowling unit featuring Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder.<\/p>\n
Sooryavanshi\u2019s innings had the hallmarks of a batter who can pace himself when needed. He reached his fifty with what was the slowest five-decade score of his IPL career\u2014taking 31 balls to get there\u2014before accelerating in a hurry. From that point, he added 45 more runs off the next 16 deliveries, finishing with an aggressive finish that included eight boundaries and seven sixes.<\/p>\n
The impact of that 96 wasn\u2019t limited to the scoreboard. With runs coming thick and fast throughout the season, Sooryavanshi also became the quickest Indian to cross the 1,000-run barrier in IPL history, surpassing Sai Sudharsan\u2014who had needed 25 innings to reach the same milestone\u2014by doing it in 23 innings. He also emerged as the youngest batter to score more than 1,000 runs in the tournament. Even more striking was the pace of his accumulation: he reached the 1,000-run mark in just 440 balls, making him the fastest to do so in terms of deliveries faced.<\/p>\n
There was also a slice of fortune in the innings. Sooryavanshi was dropped by Sai Sudharsan off Prasidh Krishna\u2019s bowling, yet he didn\u2019t waste the reprieve\u2014turning it into a productive knock that underlined his ability to handle different match situations. While his reputation is built on explosive batting, this innings reinforced that he can steer Rajasthan through the moments when scoring gets harder, rather than relying only on power hitting.<\/p>\n
Two days earlier, the youngster had come agonisingly close to a hundred against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator, managing 97 off 29 balls. This time, while the century didn\u2019t arrive, the contribution was significant enough to keep his season in the spotlight and further strengthen his standing in the Orange Cap race. The 96-run effort helped him consolidate the top spot, moving his tally to 776 runs from 16 matches.<\/p>\n
When Sooryavanshi departed, former India captain and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar highlighted a particular area opponents could target. In his assessment, he suggested that the left-hander can be vulnerable to short bowling when he is in the 90s. Gavaskar said that once batters near that score, bowlers begin to feel they can force a mistake, and the key is to keep the ball skidding in a shorter length while setting up the field. He explained that if the batter is in the 90s, a short ball combined with a deep third-man setup can bring his wicket, whereas that approach may not work earlier in the innings.<\/p>\n
Sooryavanshi\u2019s knock formed the backbone of Rajasthan\u2019s total. After opting to bat, the Riyan Parag-led side compiled 214\/6 in their 20 overs, building a competitive platform in Qualifier 2. Support arrived from Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira as well, with Jadeja making 45 not out and Ferreira contributing 38 not out, ensuring the Royals had enough runs to put Gujarat under pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Another match day, another Vaibhav Sooryavanshi statement. The Rajasthan Royals opener carried forward the momentum from his IPL 2026 Eliminator knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 96 vs Gujarat Titans in IPL Qualifier 2","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Vaibhav Sooryavanshi\u2019s 96 in RR vs Gujarat Titans\u2019 Qualifier 2 leaves him 4 short of a century\u2014relive the key moments and impact.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n