Vibhu Suryavanshi produced one of the best innings of IPL 2026 in Qualifier 2, but it was not enough to take Rajasthan Royals to the final as they suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Gujarat Titans. Former India spinner and former Rajasthan Royals player Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his disappointment that the rest of the batting unit beat the 15-year-old prodigy despite his valiant effort.While Rajasthan Royals’ batting order collapsed, it was Vibhu Suryavanshi who stood alone to give his team a big total to defend but it was not enough for the team. Speaking on his YouTube show Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin admitted that he was saddened to see such a brilliant innings end in defeat.Ashwin said, “I am mess (I am sad). “He played very well throughout IPL 2026, scored almost 800 runs. But the biggest thing for me was the innings he played today. Of course he had some luck, but the wicket was helping the bowlers. He was up against some of the best bowlers in international cricket like Mohammad Siraj, Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder,” Ashholder said.“He was lucky at times, dropped a catch, but the way he adjusted his shots and adapted to the situation was exceptional. He deserved better. Rajasthan Royals were weak. I know Shibman Gill and Sai Sudharsan batted brilliantly, but Rajasthan Royals beat this young lad, who is unbelievably unbelievable.” Vaibhav Suryavanshi prepared today,” he added. Rajasthan Royals got off to a nightmare start after being reduced to 9/2 in the powerplay, with Yashaswi Jaiswal (1) and Dhruv Jural (7) falling to Kagiso Rabada early on. Vibhu Suryavanshi then rebuilt the innings with Ravindra Jadeja, who played a crucial 45 off 35 balls before being forced to retire with an elbow injury. With Jadeja’s departure a middle-order disaster, Ryan Parag managed just 11 runs as RR lost back-to-back wickets.Amid the chaos, Suryavanshi stood tall with 96 off 47 balls, eight fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of over 204. Donovan Ferreira later made a late breakthrough with an unbeaten 38 off just 11 balls, helping RR win the contest. However, Gujarat Titans chased down the target comfortably to book their place in the IPL 2026 final.
