“Haters will say you’re not 15 years old…”: Russell praises teen sensation Sooryavanshi

New Delhi [India], May 28 (ANI): The 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has mesmerised everyone with his power-hitting and strike play. After his match-defining knock of 97 runs in just 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator of IPL 2026, the young batter has stamped his presence among the best in the business.
Rajasthan Royals thrashed SRH by 47 runs in the Eliminator clash and qualified for the second qualifier, where they will face Gujarat Titans for a spot in the IPL 2026 final, where the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are already waiting.
With this quick knock, Sooryavanshi gained praises from around the world, including from the veteran power-hitters like Andre Russell of the West Indies and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya.
Russell shared a story on his Instagram praising Sooryavanshi and called himself a fan of his batting.
"@vaibhav_sooryavanshi09 Congratulations, youngster haters will say you're not 15 years old, who cares 30 years old players out here trying their best to do what you're doing, keep going am a big fan, see ball hit ball!" wrote Russell.
In this season, Sooryavanshi has smashed 680 runs in 15 innings at an average of 45.33 and a strike rate of 242.85, including a century and four fifties, with a best score of 103. He has smashed 55 fours and 65 sixes in 280 balls faced.
The teenager has also overtaken Russell in boundary percentage. This season, Sooryavanshi has scored 88.9 per cent of his runs through fours and sixes, as compared to Russell's 85.5 per cent of 510 runs through boundaries coming in the 2019 season, as per CricViz.
Sooryavanshi has also levelled with Gayle for most instances of hitting 10-plus sixes in an IPL innings, a total of four times. Three of these occasions have come this season, making him the first batter to hit 10-plus sixes in three IPL innings in a season.
Sooryavanshi also surpassed Jayasuriya's tally of seven powerplay sixes during the IPL 2008 clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with eight sixes in the powerplay at Mullanpur.
Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya also shared his emotion with a tweet on X. He wrote, "This is some hitting from Vaibhav. Very special talent, such confidence at a young age. Cricket has a special player coming through."
Sooryavanshi is the batter with the most runs coming in the powerplay during an IPL season, with 490 runs, overtaking Australian legend David Warner, who scored 467 runs for SRH in the 2016 edition. (ANI)