Sooryavanshi winked at me and promised 13 sixes: Sangakkara reveals amazing IPL story

Even for a man who has witnessed almost every conceivable aspect of cricketing greatness, Kumar Sangakkara found himself completely disarmed by the 15-year-old.

From the Sky Sports commentary box during the third Test between England and New Zealand, the former Sri Lanka captain and current head coach of Rajasthan Royals reflected on the breathtaking, almost terrifying confidence of India’s latest batting prodigy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

The teenage sensation from Bihar enjoyed a truly epoch-making IPL 2026 campaign. He single-handedly took Rajasthan to the play-offs, won the prestigious Orange Cap with 776 runsand broke records previously held by the greats of the game. Yet it was an astonishing behind-the-scenes anecdote of the group’s high-stakes encounter against Lucknow Super Giants that Sangakkara chose to narrate to a rapt television audience.

COLD CONFIDENCE

Chasing a daunting target of 221 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur – a match the Royals absolutely had to win to keep their play-off campaign alive – the pressure in the dugout was palpable. Except, it seemed, in the mind of their teenage opener.

“We were playing against Lucknow Super Giants,” Sangakkara recalled.

“They needed to defend 220 to stay alive in the tournament. We batted first and when the chase was about to start, Vaibhav came out to open. Before heading to the middle, he looked at me, winked and said, ‘Coach, don’t worry. It’s done’.”

If that bold assurance wasn’t enough for the modern legend, Sooryavanshi then walked past his senior teammates to lay down an even more concrete mark.

“Then he walked into the locker room and said to Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, ‘Listen you two, I’m going to hit 13 sixes today. Then you just finish the job’.”

The prophecy came remarkably close to being fulfilled. The 15-year-old launched an absolute onslaught against the Lucknow bowling unitis tearing them apart with a breathtaking discount of 93 for just 38 deliveries. He ended up clearing the boundary ropes 10 times before agonizingly falling short of his century.

“Donovan and Lhuan-dre thought he was joking at first,” laughed Sangakkara.

“But when he hit five sixes, they started counting down because they realized he was actually going to do it. That’s the kind of confidence Vaibhav has at just 15 years old.”

FAME DOES NOT AFFECT VAIBHAV: SANGAKKARA

Sooryavanshi’s record-breaking season was full of such groundbreaking moments. He became the fastest batsman in T20 history to reach 1,000 runs in terms of balls (440 deliveries) and became the first ever player to amass 500 power-play runs in a single tournament.

But with such a stratospheric rise comes the inevitable, suffocating weight of spotlight and commercial pressure.

Sangakkara, who has guided the youngster from close quarters, believes the prodigy is uniquely equipped to weather the coming storm.

“He will have many opportunities ahead of him, both in cricket and commercially. How he balances that and the support he gets from his family and team will be crucial,” Sangakkara said.

“One thing I can say for sure is that Vaibhav loves batting. He loves the game. Fame and flash doesn’t really affect him. He is very grounded and curious about many things.”

Crucially, the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman noted that Sooryavanshi has a rare emotional maturity and allows him an identity beyond the 22-yard line.

“He doesn’t just live and breathe cricket all the time. He has room for other things,” Sangakkara said.

“I have no doubt that he will be a force in Indian cricket, world cricket and franchise cricket. He is in a good place mentally. I think he will handle everything that comes with fame very well.”

After a record-breaking IPL season, Sooryavanshi lit up the tri-series with India A in Sri Lanka when he smashed a 29-ball 94 in the final against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla. The 15-year-old is now touring the UK with the senior national team after being handed his first T20I call-up. In the series opener against Ireland in Belfast, Sooryavanshi was not picked in the playing eleven, but a historic debut for India is on the cards.

If and when Sooryavanshi makes his debut in the next six T20Is in the UK (five against England in July), he will become the youngest man to debut for India in international cricket. breaking the 37-year long record held by Sachin Tendulkar.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

27 Jun 2026 16:44 IST