4 min readUpdated: Jun 27, 2026 02:58 PM IST
World champions India suffered its first ever loss to Ireland in the first T20I on Friday evening and all the talk prior to the match was whether Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will make his international debut or not. Though the 15-year-old did not make it to the final XI, the teenage sensation is expected to make his international debut at some point during this tour or the subsequent one in England.
Sooryavanshi had amassed 776 runs in 16 innings this IPL at a strike rate of 237.30 in this year’s IPL and Former Sri Lanka captain and now the head coach and director of cricket at Rajasthan Royals, Kumar Sangakkara has shared how the young Indian prodigy told his Royals’ teammates Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dre Pretorius about hitting 13 sixes during a tough run-chase against Lucknow Super Giants this IPL season.
“This year, we were playing the Lucknow Super Giants. We had to chase 220 (221) to win the game and stay in the competition. We fielded first. Vaibhav is walking out, he winks at me and says, ‘Coach, don’t worry. It’s done.’ He walks into the dressing room and tells Donovan Ferreira and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, ‘Listen, the two of you. I am going to hit 13 sixes now. And once I do that, you just do the rest.’ He hit 10. And when he was on five sixes, Donovan and Pretorius thought, ‘What is he talking about?’ Then they suddenly sat down and said, ‘We better start counting this down because this kid is actually going to do it.’ So, that is the level of confidence he has,” Sangakkara told Sky Sports.
Sooryavanshi was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore in the 2024 IPL mega auction. In last year’s IPL Sooryavanshi had become the youngest cricketer to hit an IPL hundred when he played a knock of 101 runs against Gujarat Titans. Earlier this year, the Bihar cricketer had played a knock of 175 runs against England in the U-19 World Cup final to guide India to the title. This year’s IPL saw Sooryavanshi scoring 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30 with the teenager hitting one hundred and five half-centuries. The youngster was then selected for the Indian T20I team for the Ireland and England tour as well as Asian Games. Sangakkara also shared his first meeting with Sooryavanshi and how he was impressed with the teenager’s no-fear approach against bowlers like Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma in the nets.
“I first saw Vaibhav when I came in for a two-week period to Guwahati. And I went to the side, there was this tiny, horrible little side net in terms of facing up to the likes of Archer and Sandeep Sharma and all the fast bowlers with new balls, and no one really wanted to bat there. And I saw this, Vaibhav walking (and telling him), ‘I’ll bat.’ New balls on, and I could just hear the sound of his bat, like a gunshot every single time. And I think he just put Archer to the sword; he put Sandeep Sharma to the sword. So much so that at one time, I think Archer stopped and laughed. Because he was bowling quickly, and this 14-year-old kid was just treating him with absolute disdain,” Sangakkara added.
