3 min readApr 26, 2026 11:23 AM IST
15-year-old cricketing prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues to shatter records while adding new names to the list of players left in awe of his astonishing batting. The teenage superstar in the making has a new admirer: Australian premier pacer and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins.
After he slammed a 36-ball ton against SRH in Rajasthan Royals’ first home game in Jaipur in the Indian Premier League, Cummins said Sooryavanshi is his new favourite player.
“Yeah, I think he’s my new favourite player. He hits the ball so hard, and it’s great to watch. It’s good fun,” Cummins said in the post-match press conference after SRH overhauled the 229-run target in just 18.3 overs, courtesy of cracking fifties from Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
Sooryavanshi, who was dismissed by SRH bowler Praful Hinge for a golden duck the last time the two teams faced each other, got his revenge quickly as he hit the Vidarbha bowler for four consecutive sixes in the very first over. The teenager then smoked one out of the park off the first ball he faced from Cummins. The World Cup and World Test Championship-winning captain said a bowler has to be right on the money against Suryavanshi, otherwise it will go a long way.
“You’ve got to be right on the money as a bowler, because if you’re not, it’s going a long way. He’s impressive. He’s had a great start to his career. I like the way he plays,” said Cummins.
When asked about his decision to hit bowlers with pedigree and reputation for sixes off the very first ball, Sooryavanshi said, “There wasn’t any specific plan to hit the first ball. But we had a discussion before the match. Yash bhaiya (Yashasvi Jaiswal) said that we should play freely today,” he said during the innings break while receiving the Orange Cap for becoming the highest run scorer of the season.
On hitting sixes in the first over, the Samastipur lad said, “If we get the opportunity from the first ball, we should back our game and that’s exactly what happened. There wasn’t much thinking. I just played according to the ball. The wicket felt good, so I backed my game.”
