Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 97 off just 29 balls left the cricketing world stunned as Rajasthan Royals thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 playoffs eliminator.
From cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Chris Gayle — who dubbed the teenager IPL’s new “six machine” — to fans across social media, praise poured in for Rajasthan’s newest sensation.
Congratulating Sooryavanshi on the “spectacular” innings, Tendulkar called his bat swing “outstanding” while also noting “how beautifully he clears his front foot to create room for balls aimed at his legs.”
“This freedom allows him to play the way he does”, Tendulkar said in a post on X.
Indian legend Yuvraj Singh was straight and simple in his praise, “Boss baby breaks world bosses record! Unbelievable this kid great to watch.”
Harbhajan Singh also tagged the batter as “the most dangerous batsman” and a “six-hitting machine”.
Australian coach Justin Langer said that he has asked another athlete for a selfie only two times. “The first time was for my childhood AFL hero, South Fremantle’s Stephen Michael, a couple of years ago at Optus Stadium. The second was a 15-year-old boy from a village in Bihar.” He commended the “youngest centurion in men’s T20 cricket”, who is at just 15 years of age.
Sooryavanshi hit five fours and 12 sixes, but fell short of breaking Gayle's fastest IPL century record of 30 balls.
Fans were quick to empathise with a flurry of famous “oh no” moments from TV history.
Social media users were also quick to call the result “karma”, referring to Ishan Kishan’s controversial celebration during SRH’s previous match against Chennai Super Kings. After his match-winning 70 off 47 balls that sealed Hyderabad’s playoff berth, Kishan was seen making animated blowing gestures toward the Chepauk stands — a swipe at CSK’s iconic “Whistle Podu” chant and the home crowd’s trademark whistles.
A user shared an AI-generated image of Jofra Archer and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi making orange juice after the match, symbolising the crushing defeat suffered by SRH’s “Orange Army”.
Several old clips of Sooryavanshi resurfaced online.
One widely shared video showed the teenager choosing to dance to Bihari songs instead of Punjabi music during a celebration. Users joked that this was probably his mood after smashing Australia captain Pat Cummins for 25 runs in a single over.
Even corporate social media handles joined the frenzy, with Tata Crucible calling Sooryavanshi “a kid not focused on answering questions, but on becoming the answer to a future quiz question.”
An unlikely mash of WWE and IPL cricket also took form as certain handles posted videos of the famous wrestling champion Roman Reigns, but with Sooryavanshi’s face instead of his, getting felicitated as the GOAT (greatest of all time).
The teenager’s exploits against the biggest faces among IPL bowlers in 2026 also became a talking point.