India’s young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has yet again returned to the headlines for his fireworks. After turning heads in the IPL 2025 and then in junior cricket, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi kicked off the ongoing 2026 season with yet another blockbuster show for the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
In the Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2026 opener in Guwahati, the 14-year-old played a whirlwind knock of 52 runs off just 17 balls, laced with four boundaries and five sixes to help his team chase down the 128-run target with 47 balls to spare against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get maiden India call-up after IPL 2026: Kamran Akmal
The young RR opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made those runs at an unbelievable strike rate of over 305. With the way he is smashing bowlers, former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal said that the teenager is already ready for international cricket, and he might receive his India call-up right after the IPL 2026.
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The left-hander has rewritten the IPL record books, hitting the fastest IPL century (35 balls), the second-fastest IPL fifty, a six on the first ball of his IPL career, and a 15-ball fifty against CSK.
Kamran Akmal said on the YouTube show Gameplan, “In just 8 IPL games, he has been piling records—he already has a hundred. I think in the coming international games for India, he will get a chance after IPL. He will become a young player of the T20 international team. He has proved himself in every place. If he continues to perform, he will definitely get the chance.”
Akmal impressed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s extraordinary consistency and maturity
Akmal has been stunned by how mature and fearless Sooryavanshi looks at such a young age. He was also surprised by Sooryavanshi’s presence of mind, praising the youngster’s shot selection, ability to handle pressure, and calmness that made him look like a future superstar already.
The former Pakistani cricketer further added, “His presence of mind, game awareness, and the way he plays—he has a counter to everything at such a young age. This is remarkable … We are discussing his performance more because it was a (low-scoring) match of 128. But his performance is visible because he scored 50 runs on 15 balls.”
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Akmal hails Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s childhood coaching, predicts he will be unstoppable by 25
Akmal gave credit to the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s father and his coaches who shaped his technique in school and club cricket for his unbelievable rapid rise and unbelievable shot-making.
He added, “His family and his father should be proud—the way he has worked with him, the way the others too like coaches who have taught him in school cricket, in club cricket.”
Akmal believes that this is only the start of Vaibhav’s incredible journey of his cricketing career. If Sooryavanshi is destroying top-level bowlers at 14, Akmal feels that by the time he enters his mid-20s, he could become one of the most feared batters in the world.
He signed off by saying, “I am afraid when he is 25, the bowlers will not know what to do with him.”
