Vaibhav Sooryavanshi anointed the ‘Bradman of T20 cricket’ – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: The 15-Year-Old Prodigy Being Called the Bradman of T20

A Star is Born: The Rise of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

In the high-stakes world of the Indian Premier League, where legends are made and pressure can break the strongest of wills, a 15-year-old boy has emerged as the most dominant force in the game. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the Rajasthan Royals wunderkind, has left fans, analysts, and even seasoned veterans in awe during the 2026 IPL season. His latest display of sheer hitting power—a blistering 97 off just 29 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator—has solidified his status as a generational talent.

The Knock That Stopped Time

Wednesday’s Eliminator clash was intended to be a battle of nerves, but Sooryavanshi turned it into a masterclass of aggression. The youngster attacked from the very first ball, dismantling a seasoned bowling attack with surgical precision. His highlight reel for the evening included a ruthless assault on Pat Cummins in the third over, where he hammered three consecutive sixes. By the conclusion of the powerplay, Sooryavanshi was already sitting on 60 runs from only 20 balls.

While he narrowly missed out on eclipsing Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL century, his 12 total sixes—eight of which came during the powerplay—painted a picture of a player who is currently in a league of his own. Supported by a crucial 20-ball fifty from Dhruv Jurel, Rajasthan Royals posted a formidable 243, effectively ending Sunrisers Hyderabad’s hopes of a comeback after Jofra Archer tore through their top order early in the second innings.

The ‘Bradman of T20’ Comparison

The praise for the teenager reached a crescendo when former Australian all-rounder and LSG Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, offered perhaps the highest compliment a cricketer can receive. Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Moody struggled to find words to describe the scale of Sooryavanshi’s dominance.

“I’m sort of trying to get my head around how to explain it,” Moody stated. “The only way to explain it is to ask someone to watch it and come up with their own description, because we’re witnessing something I don’t think we’ve seen in our lifetime in this format of the game.”

Moody drew a direct parallel to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, whose statistical gap over his peers in the 1920s and 30s remains the greatest anomaly in sporting history. “The only thing I can take it back to is what Bradman was doing. Bradman nearly averaged 100 in Test cricket, and the drop-off to the next best was around 60, so that’s the separation we’re talking about. It’s that in T20 cricket at the age of 15.”

Record-Breaking Season

Sooryavanshi’s impact is not just aesthetic; it is backed by staggering numbers. As the leader of the Orange Cap race, he has accumulated 680 runs in just 15 matches. His strike rate of 243 makes him the first player in IPL history to surpass 600 runs in a single tournament while maintaining a strike rate above 200.

Furthermore, his tally of 65 sixes has officially broken Chris Gayle’s long-standing record for the most sixes in a single IPL season. As the Rajasthan Royals prepare for Qualifier 2, the cricket world remains glued to the screen, waiting to see what the ‘Bradman of T20’ will do next. Whether he continues to rewrite the record books or simply continues to entertain, one thing is certain: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already changed the trajectory of modern T20 batting.

The meteoric rise of the teenager has also sparked discussions across the cricketing landscape regarding the future of team dynamics, with some analysts already suggesting that the Rajasthan Royals have found a cornerstone player who will define the franchise for the next decade.