Sunil Gavaskar's Prophecy For Vaibhav Sooryavanshi After 16-Ball 43 vs PBKS Is A Challenge For All IPL Teams

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues to awe the world. With a 16-ball 43 for Rajasthan Royals against Punjab Kings on Tuesday, Sooryavanshi became the first batter to reach 400 runs in IPL 2026. Sooryavanshi's latest innings included five sixes and three fours. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was impressed by the shots that Sooryavanshi played and added that it is almost impossible to stop the 15-year-old even with 10 fielders at the boundary. For the IPL teams who will listen to Gavaskar's statement, it indeed presents a challenge to stop the marauding teenager.

"The shots he was hitting were brilliant. Even 10 fielders at the boundary would not have been enough. He doesn't seem to be fazed. That, I think, is the benefit of being so young. You are not worried about anything. You don't look at the opposition," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Talking about the match, Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey put together an impressive unbeaten 77-run partnership off just 32 balls to take Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in the 40th match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh, on Tuesday.

With the game tightly contested after 14 overs and the required run rate exceeding 12, the pair made the chase look easy. Ferreira and Dubey took full advantage when the spinners were out, targeting the pace bowlers. Arshdeep Singh was hit for three fours in his return spell, while Marco Jansen conceded a four and a six. The duo kept up their attack against Arshdeep, showing poise and clean hitting to finish the chase and hand Punjab Kings their first loss of the season.

Earlier, Rajasthan's chase was energised by a fast start from the 15-year-old sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. After Yashasvi Jaiswal gave him the strike, Sooryavanshi made a strong impression. Despite Arshdeep Singh starting with two accurate yorkers, the young player replied with 6, 4, 4, helping RR score 15 runs in the opening over. He continued his offensive against Lockie Ferguson and Jansen, hitting sixes and boundaries with ease.

Sooryavanshi raced to 43 off 16 balls, hitting three fours and five sixes, before Arshdeep changed his angle and got him to slice a low full toss into the air, where Shreyas Iyer took the catch. During his innings, Sooryavanshi reached 400 runs in just 167 balls at an astonishing strike rate of 238.09 - the fastest any player has scored 400 runs in an IPL season. RR had already surpassed 50 runs in 3.2 overs and reached 66/1 after four overs.

Jaiswal, who had been quiet initially, took control after Sooryavanshi's dismissal. He hit 4, 6, 4 against Arshdeep and reached a 27-ball 51, getting his fifty off 26 balls. However, Yuzvendra Chahal made a crucial impact for PBKS, getting Jaiswal out and then dismissing Riyan Parag (29), as RR managed only 25 runs over the next four overs, also losing Dhruv Jurel (16 off 20).

With IANS inputs

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