He is 15 years old. He already has two IPL half-centuries this season. He hit Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood for fun. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s IPL 2026 campaign has been extraordinary anyway. But behind the scenes, the teenage Rajasthan Royals sensation was quietly unhappy. And that has nothing to do with his batting.
For two matches in a row, Sooryavanshi was used as an impact player. He will sit out an innings in the field and come in to bat only. The decision raised eyebrows among fans and analysts. But it turns out that it bothered the young man himself.
Rajasthan Royals assistant coach Trevor Penny raised the curtain on the situation during the IPL 2026 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday, Penny said Vaibhav was not “very happy”.
“The last game he missed he wasn’t very happy because he loves to field. It’s not because he’s a bad fielder,” Penny said.
The explanation for the decision is simple enough. In the first few games of the season, Donovan Ferreira was recovering from a collarbone injury sustained during the SA20. With the South African wicketkeeper-batsman unavailable, Sooryavanshi played as part of the main playing XI.
However, once Ferreira passed his fitness test and returned to the team, the balance changed. That left no place for the teenager in the playing eleven during the fielding innings.
“Donovan passed his fitness test. He broke his collarbone in the SA20. He’s a shooter in the field. It’s good to have him back on the field. Vaibhav is sadly missing,” added Penny.
The return of Ferreira strengthens Rajasthan significantly in the field. But asking a teenager who loves every aspect of the game to sit on the bench for half a game is a challenge in its own right.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in IPL 2026
A look at Sooryavanshi’s IPL 2026 scorecard explains why the team is making extra efforts to keep him in the lineup in whatever capacity is available.
In his first match of IPL 2026, Sooryavanshi scored 52 runs off just 17 balls against Chennai Super Kings. He followed this up with 31 off 18 balls against Gujarat Titans in Match 2 and 39 off 14 balls against Mumbai Indians in Match 3.
His best knock of the season so far came in the 4th match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He torched 78 runs off just 26 balls at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.
The fifth match against Sunrisers Hyderabad brought his first defeat of the season. Debutant Praful Hinge dismissed him for a golden duck. The southpaw took a shot off the top edge that he comfortably tipped over the keeper.
Both his fifties came off just 15 balls. He has already dismantled Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood, two of the best bowlers in world cricket.
Last season he declared with a 35-ball century against the Titans. So far, it is the fastest hundred by an Indian batter in IPL history.
The boy wants a field. Management wants to protect what it has. For now, both sides are driving the arrangement. But if the form continues, the conversation about how to keep Vaibhav Sooryavanshi happy will only get louder.
