New Delhi: The cricketing world is still struggling to come to terms with Vibhu Suryavanshi’s astonishing IPL 2026 eliminator quest, and now former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has joined the growing list of admirers with a comparison that has instantly caught on.Less than 24 hours after age 15 Rajasthan Royals The sensation destroyed Sunrisers Hyderabad by scoring 97 runs off just 29 balls, with Yusuf declaring that the youngster reminded him of a young Shahid Afridi.“15-year-old cricket sensation Vibhu Suryavanshi reminds me of @SAfridiofficial — young, fearless, explosive, full of energy. The future is here!” Yusuf posted on X.Comparisons with Afridi – who was one of cricket’s most devastating hitters during his peak years – only added to the growing hype around the teenage prodigy, whose fearless batting has become the biggest talking point of IPL 2026.
Suryavanshi’s brutal attack stunned SRH.
Suryavanshi scored one of the greatest play-off innings in IPL history in the eliminator for Rajasthan Royals at Molanpur by 47 runs against Hyderabad.The teenage opener hit 12 sixes and five fours at an extraordinary strike rate of 334.48 and also smashed Australia captain Pat Cummins with three consecutive sixes in an over.His brilliant innings took Rajasthan Royals to 243/8 before SRH were bowled out for 196.Also read: How Suryavanshi Storm ended Sunrisers’ title dreams after dramatic comebackThe youngster fell short of the fastest century in IPL history, falling to 97 after attempting another six. However, he still broke several records during the innings.Suryavanshi now holds the record for the most runs by an uncapped batsman in an IPL season with 680, surpassing Yashvi Jaiswal’s tally of 625 in 2023.He has also hit 65 sixes this season, breaking Chris Gayle’s long-standing record for most sixes in one edition of the IPL.Cricket world shocked by the teenage sensationDespite missing out on his century by just three runs, Suryavanshi revealed that personal milestones were never on his mind during the innings.“I found out after the game,” he said when asked that the record for the fastest IPL century was briefly missing. “My focus was on hitting sixes. I will score hundreds in future but the focus was on scoring maximum runs for the team.”Rajasthan Royals captain Ryan Prag admitted that the team deliberately avoids overloading the youngster with advice.“We don’t have any discussions; just leave him alone. We give him a lot of batting practice and he does his thing,” Parag said.England fast bowlers Jofra ArcherWho played an important role with the ball in the eliminator, perfectly summed up the growing fear among the bowlers.“The more runs he scores, the more runs we have to defend,” Archer said.With Rajasthan Royals now set to take on Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2, the cricketing world is waiting to see if the fearless youngster can deliver another phenomenal performance on the biggest stage.
