Vaibhav Sooryavanshi stood one shot short of IPL history. The last 28 balls had seen him slam 97 runs with 12 sixes and five fours. He needed three runs in one ball to break Chris Gayle’s record of fastest IPL ton. It was not to be. Earlier, showing utter disregard for Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling, which included an Ashes-winning captain, Pat CumminsSooryavanshi went on with his destructive batting with ease. After slamming a 16-ball half-century, Sooryavanshi showed no signs of slowing down. The destruction that he unleashed saw RR reach 80/0 in the first six overs – the third-highest Powerplay total in IPL knockouts/Playoffs. RR crossed 100 in just 7.2 overs, with Sooryavanshi smashing a six off Praful.
The next four balls, Sooryavanshi slammed two fours (one off a no-ball) and a six. He reached 97 off 28 balls. He needed 4 runs off just one ball to break Gayle’s ‘greatest T20 record’ of fastest IPL ton in 30 balls (vs Pune Warriors India, 2013). It was not to be. Off a short and wide delivery from Hinge, Sooryavanshi moved across and went for the upper cut over third man. The shot couldn’t go the distance, and Smaran Ravichandran bent forward and took a good catch. Sooryavanshi was distraught. He barely dragged himself out of the ground even though the fans and fellow players applauded him.
pic.twitter.com/Sp1NlKLJVK Watch the glimpse of one of the greatest innings of #TataIPL 🔥🔥
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi missed the fastest ever century record of Chris Gayle by just 3 runs.
This 15 years old boy is pure magic and rarest talent or cricket 🏏 #SRHvRR #RRvsSRH
— Cricket Movie (@DurgeshUpdates) May 27, 2026
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi didn’t just play an innings tonight…
Bro terrorized bowlers, came inches away from breaking the greatest T20 record ever, and made the IPL playoffs look like school cricket pic.twitter.com/SxuFa5vW5E
— Saurav Chronicles (@SauravChronicle) May 27, 2026
Sooryavanshi scaled another extraordinary peak in his record-breaking campaign at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Wednesday, as the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals opener became the first player in the world to hit 61 sixes in a single T20 tournament, surpassing Chris Gayle’s long-standing benchmark against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator.
Gayle had smashed 59 sixes for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during his iconic 2012 IPL season, a record that stood untouched for 14 years despite the evolution of ultra-aggressive batting in franchise cricket. He also became the first teenager ever to score 600 runs in a T20 tournament before turning 20.
The young left-hander from Bihar has set new records throughout an impressive IPL campaign. He now leads the list for most runs scored by a teenager in a T20 tournament. His total of 600 runs in just 15 matches surpasses Devdutt Padikkal‘s previous record of 580 runs for Karnataka in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Vaibhav’s outstanding season has put him ahead of several established stars who made early impacts as teenagers. Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Verma is now third on the all-time list with 397 runs in IPL 2022.
South Africa’s Lhuan-dre Pretorius also scored 397 runs in the 2024–25 SA20 season for Paarl Royals. England’s Will Smeed, France’s Gustav McKeonand Indian stars Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw are also among the players Vaibhav has surpassed.
The Rajasthan Royals opener has also broken the record for the most runs by a teenager in a single IPL season. Before this year, Tilak Varma’s 397-run season for the Mumbai Indians in 2022 was the standard for teenage batters in the tournament.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bowl against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh, on Wednesday. Sunrisers Hyderabad made one change to their XI, bringing in Praful Hinge in place of Salil Arora. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals also tweaked their combination, with Ravindra Jadeja replacing Shubham Dubey in the starting lineup
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