Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed Josh Hazlewood for 18 runs from four balls on his return from injury
Josh Hazlewood has made his long-awaited return to action after a five-month absence, but only for his bowling to be treated with utter contempt by a 15-year-old.
One of the game’s premier quicks discovered, like so many have already, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is no ordinary kid, as the teenage sensation of Indian cricket played another astounding IPL hand to lead unbeaten Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Hazlewood’s reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
RCB were glad to have their 35-year-old star paceman back after his long absence with hamstring and Achilles woes, and Hazlewood looked sharp enough as he took two wickets on his return, including the distinguished scalp of Indian Test ace Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first over.
But taking on young Sooryavanshi, who is no respecter of reputations as even the great Jasprit Bumrah has discovered, proved a very different kettle of fish.
Chasing RCB’s challenging 8-201 in Guwahati, even the swift dismissal of Jaiswal couldn’t halt Sooryavanshi’s incredible assault on Hazlewood’s second over, hitting the Aussie for 4, 4, 4 in successive balls before depositing the next shorter delivery over deep square leg for six.
His 18 runs off four balls left Hazlewood stunned, but Sooryavanshi treated other luminaries with similar savagery as he took 16 from former Indian Test seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the next over and later smacked two-straight sixes off Aussie Tim David’s lone over, which went for 18.
The youngster hurtled to 78 off 26 balls, having reached his half-century in just 15 deliveries, and with his second-wicket partner Dhruv Jurel smashing an unbeaten 81, they’d effectively already won Rajasthan’s fourth match on the bounce when the wonder boy finally miscued one off Krunal Pandya in the ninth over.
After reaching their target of 4-202 with two overs to spare, the modest lad took the plaudits in his stride as he was presented with the player-of-the-match award and the orange cap as the tournament’s top run-scorer.
“I try to play the ball and not the bowler, and play my game,” he shrugged, when asked about his outlandish assault, with seven sixes and eight fours, on seasoned Test bowlers.
“My dad, my coaches … they keep telling me that the journey is long and to focus on my process and my game, without diverting my mind.”
Jurel, though, echoed everyone else’s wonder: “We just cannot believe how someone can hit it like that.”
Hazlewood rebounded well after his initial pummelling – Jaiswal had also hit the first ball of his return for six – as he finished with 2-44 off his four overs.
But David, fresh from his astonishing unbeaten 70 in his previous match against Chennai, had a quieter time for RCB, scoring 13 off nine balls.
IPL 2026 standings
Australians in IPL 2026
Chennai Super Kings: Matt Short ($255k), Spencer Johnson ($255k, replaces Nathan Ellis ($340k))
Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Starc ($2m)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood ($2.13m), Tim David ($510k)
Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis ($1.9m), Ben Dwarshuis ($745k), Mitchell Owen ($510k), Cooper Connolly ($510k), Xavier Bartlett ($136k)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Cameron Green ($3.5m)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins ($3.5m), Travis Head ($2.38m), Jack Edwards ($510k, withdrawn)
Lucknow Super Giants: Josh Inglis ($1.49m), Mitchell Marsh ($578k)
