‘New six machine’: Chris Gayle welcomes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after 15-year-old breaks his IPL record

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Chris Gayle NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lit up the IPL 2026 Eliminator with a stunning knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals opener smashed 97 balls, including just 29 balls, including 12 massive sixes, to help his team record a dominant 47-run victory to advance to the Qualifier 2. Although he missed out on a century, his fearless batting caught the attention of cricket fans and legends around the world.Chris Gayle, whose long-standing IPL record for sixes in a season was surpassed by Sooryavanshi, praised the youngster after he hit 65 sixes in the tournament, surpassing Gayle’s 59 in 2015. “What a phenomenal player Vaibhav is. Great fun young man! New Six machine,” Gayle wrote.After the match, Sooryavanshi revealed that he was not thinking about personal milestones during his explosive innings. “I found out after the game,” he said when asked if he narrowly missed out on the fastest IPL hundred. He added, “My focus was to hit a six. I will score a century in the future, but I was focused on scoring maximum runs for the team.”India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav also praised the teenager’s fearless batting. “Heads up boy. What a class act, you took everyone’s breath away,” Surya wrote on X, calling him a future star.While Sooryavanshi stole the headlines, Jofra Archer starred with the ball. The England pacer rattled SRH early by dismissing Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan during the power over. Chasing a huge target, Hyderabad never recovered from those early blows and were bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs. Rajasthan Royals will now face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 for a place in the IPL Final.