Chris Gayle Praises Young Star Sooryavanshi for Record-Breaking IPL Performance
Sooryavanshi Shines in IPL Eliminator
New Delhi, May 28: Chris Gayle, the legendary West Indies cricketer, has expressed admiration for 15-year-old Indian talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after his explosive innings of 97 runs off just 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL eliminator. This remarkable performance allowed Sooryavanshi to surpass Gayle's record for the most sixes in a single IPL season.
Sooryavanshi showcased his prowess by dismantling a formidable SRH bowling attack, hitting five fours and an impressive 12 sixes, achieving a strike rate exceeding 334. With this performance, he has now hit 65 sixes this season, breaking Gayle's previous record of 59 sixes set in 2012.
On Instagram, Gayle congratulated Sooryavanshi, calling him a 'new six machine' and expressing his excitement over the young player's achievements.
Despite narrowly missing the record for the fastest IPL century, which Gayle holds, Gayle reassured Sooryavanshi that he would eventually reach that milestone.
This season, Sooryavanshi has accumulated 680 runs in 15 innings, averaging 45.33 with a strike rate of 242.85, including one century and four fifties. His boundary statistics are remarkable, with 55 fours and 65 sixes from 280 balls faced, indicating that 88.9% of his runs have come from boundaries.
He has matched Gayle's record for the most innings with 10 or more sixes, achieving this feat four times, three of which occurred this season, making him the first player to hit 10 or more sixes in three separate innings in a single IPL season.
Sooryavanshi's dominance extends to the powerplay, where he surpassed Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya's record of seven powerplay sixes, hitting eight during a match against Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
He now holds the record for the most runs scored in the powerplay during an IPL season, with 490 runs, overtaking David Warner's previous record of 467 runs in 2016.
This marks Sooryavanshi's fifth fifty-plus score in the powerplay, trailing only Warner, who has six. He has also joined the ranks of Suresh Raina and Adam Gilchrist for fifty-plus scores in IPL knockout matches.
His 16-ball half-century ties with Raina for the fastest fifty in an IPL playoff match. Additionally, his 12 sixes in a single innings during the playoffs set a new record, surpassing Shubman Gill's 10 sixes.
Sooryavanshi's 97 runs are the second-highest score for Rajasthan Royals in IPL knockout matches, following Jos Buttler's 106* against RCB in 2022.
He has also set a record for the most runs scored by an uncapped player in a single IPL season, exceeding his teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal's 625 runs. Furthermore, he is the youngest player to reach 600 runs in an IPL season.
Before Sooryavanshi's emergence, no player in T20 history had scored over 600 runs in a tournament while maintaining a strike rate above 200.
With this defeat, SRH has been eliminated from the tournament, while Rajasthan Royals will face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier Two for a chance to compete in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). In the match, Sooryavanshi's explosive innings helped RR post a total of 243/8, while SRH struggled to reach 196 runs in 19.2 overs, with Archer and Burger leading RR's bowling attack.