IPL: Can Vaibhav effect strike Pat Cummins & co in the eliminator?

There may be several talking points about the IPL 2026 eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in New Chandigarh on Wednesday, but there are no prizes for guessing as to who will be the biggest crowdpuller of them all.

Can Vaibhav Sooryavanshi get going once again after tasting a rare failure against Mumbai Indians in their crunch final league game last Sunday?

The 18-year history of IPL has seen it’s quota of extraordinary entertainers, master seam bowlers and spinners – but one has not come across anyone quite this 15-year-old. ‘’He’s not real but AI,’’ joked Jos Buttler and one understands where he is coming from. The past year or so had seen the wonderkid take a quantum leap in stature in leaving his imprint in different parts of the world, so much so that the national selectors didn’t have an option but to fast track him in the India A squad for their Sri Lanka tour next month.

‘The Vaibhav effect’ had been so overpowering for the last two months that it provoked comparisons between him and Sachin Tendulkar at his age – what with the Little Master making his Test debut at age of 16 years in 1989.

The boy from Samastipur in Bihar is the product of a completely different generation alright, but the way he has redefined high tempo batting that Pat Cummins & Co will want to see his back early on in the powerplay when the ball does a bit at the north Indian venue.

Getting behind the euphoria, how does one break down the exploits of Vaibhav this season?

A total of 583 runs from 14 innings may see him lying in fifth position in the Orange Cap race behind Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill, Heinrich Klaasen and KL Rahul in that order – with three of them oozing class and being a treat for the eyes. What, however, sets Vaibhav apart was the clip at which these runs have come with his strike rate of 232 being the best among them, Finn Allen of KKR at the next best at 214.11.

Abhishek Sharma, the world No.1 T20I batter, who will trying to match the rival openers’ firepower in the company of Travis Head in the eliminator, has had a strike rate of 208 while being in the seventh position in the Orange Cap race with a total of 563.

Vaibhav has alone contributed 26 per cent of Royals’ runs in wins this season, the highest share for the franchise. Out of the 583 the opener has scored this season, 348 have come in wins but his most outrageous innings -- a 36-ball ton came in a loss, one of the rare occasions his brilliance wasn’t enough to drag RR over the line.

Trying to break down Vaibhav’s craft, Trevor Penny, assistant coach of Royals and one of the journeyman in the circuit said at the last pre-match press conference: ‘’I think he’s definitely never seen a 15-year-old bat like that. Even if he was 25, I think we’d be talking about him. I think age hasn’t come into it.

 ‘’He (Vaibhav) goes from ball one and he’s got all the shots. I think this year, compared to last year - I did watch on TV - he might have matured a bit on what shots he can play, where the bowlers think there’s a weakness. So he’s adapting to that and then playing accordingly,’’ the Zimbabwean said.

What is extraordinary about Vaibhav is while he is often as respectful as a normal teenager in a middle class Indian household, touching the feet of legendary cricketers in a pranam – he seems to be in no awe of any elite international bowlers. One recalls the Royals’ home game early on in the season against Mumbai Indians in Guwahati when Vaibhav greeted Jasprit Bumrah’s first delivery (mind you, he was facing Bumrah for the first time in his career) for a six over long on. The third ball he faced, Sooryavanshi pulled Bumrah's off-pace delivery for a six over deep-backward square leg.

Looking ahead, Vaibhav is also within a striking distance of the ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes (59) smashed in a single IPL season – a feat which he achieved for RCB in 2012. The young Royal, who has already become the first Indian to clobber 50 sixes in one edition, is six short of Gayle’s mark but has a maximum of three more games in a best case scenario.

If he manages to strike it, it will be another feather in the boy’s cap!

Catch the match 

IPL eliminator

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals

Venue: New Chandigarh

Start: 7.30 pm