Rajasthan Royals youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already made a striking impression in IPL 2026 by starting his campaign with big-hitting cameos against high-calibre bowling. The teenager\u2019s standout moment came when he sent Jasprit Bumrah into the stands with a six on the very first ball he faced. Yet, despite that early statement, former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop believes the challenge awaiting Sooryavanshi against another pace heavyweight\u2014Mitchell Starc\u2014will be of a different order when Rajasthan take on the Delhi Capitals on Friday.<\/p>\n
Bishop\u2019s view was straightforward: Starc, as a strike bowler of the highest level, will be ready for what Sooryavanshi brings to the crease. He argued that it would be a mistake to treat the Australian as a like-for-like comparison with Bumrah, pointing to Starc\u2019s preparation and execution rather than simply the reputation of the opponent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to give Mitchell Starc credit. He\u2019ll arrive with a better plan and be more prepared; he won\u2019t be Jasprit Bumrah,\u201d Bishop said in his comments.<\/p>\n
While Bishop\u2019s assessment could be seen as a warning, Sooryavanshi is expected to take it as fuel rather than a verdict\u2014using the matchup as motivation to test himself against one of the tournament\u2019s most dangerous fast bowlers.<\/p>\n
In the ongoing IPL season, Sooryavanshi has already gone after several of the leading bowlers in the competition, including Bumrah, Trent Boult and Josh Hazlewood. The teenager\u2019s aggression has brought him attention quickly, but Bishop\u2019s argument is that it is not merely luck or timing\u2014there is a deliberate, repeatable approach behind his striking.<\/p>\n
Bishop highlighted the youngster\u2019s mindset and technical individuality, suggesting his mental approach allows him to confront established international pace attacks. He also described Sooryavanshi\u2019s batting swing as unusual, comparing it to the mechanics often associated with baseball-style hitting rather than a conventional cricket swing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel his mental make-up is good enough to take on the best bowlers in the world. He faced Jasprit Bumrah. Technically, he\u2019s quite different with how he swings his bat\u2014almost like a baseball-type swing,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n
Another key point Bishop raised was that there does not appear to be a single, obvious vulnerability in Sooryavanshi\u2019s batting that opponents can reliably exploit. He noted that deliveries pitched around the back-of-a-length region have troubled others, yet those same balls have also worked against him in the past\u2014meaning bowlers are left scrambling to find a consistent angle or variation that truly disrupts him.<\/p>\n
Bishop explained that the \u201cback of a length\u201d ball has been effective against Sooryavanshi in different contexts, including situations such as the Under-19 World Cup and in matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, he added that when bowlers miss that specific length and the ball is pulled or sliced early, the scoring opportunities tend to open up, sometimes turning into big hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to identify exactly where his weakness is because the back-of-a-length delivery has been effective against him\u2014say, in the Under-19 World Cup and versus Sunrisers Hyderabad. But if you don\u2019t hit that back-of-a-length ball and he\u2019s able to pull it or get top edges early, then those deliveries don\u2019t stay in play and disappear over the boundary,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n
Bishop also suggested the way established bowlers are forced to reshuffle their strategies is a sign of how well Sooryavanshi is currently set up technically. He pointed to the fact that during matches in this IPL, seasoned pacers are not sticking to one method; instead, they are cycling through multiple plans\u2014reflecting the difficulty of landing the right ball in the right moment against the teenager.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I believe he\u2019s set up very well. There are a number of world-class bowlers in this tournament running plan A, plan B, plan C, plan E, F, and G. That\u2019s a good indication that, as they try to nail yorkers\u2014yorkers\u2014at him in the previous game\u2014he\u2019s handling the pressure. From that perspective, he\u2019s set up well,\u201d Bishop added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rajasthan Royals youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already made a striking impression in IPL 2026 by starting his campaign with big-hitting cameos against high-calibre bowling. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Sooryavanshi vs Bumrah, Starc Pace Test","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Vaibhav Sooryavanshi announces IPL 2026 arrival with a brutal first-ball six off Jasprit Bumrah\u2014now faces Mitchell Starc\u2019s pace test.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n