New Delhi: Vaibhav Suryavanshi had made his mark. IPL 2025 and then took it further with age group Indian team performances in various tournaments and tours. After scoring 252 runs in seven innings in the last IPL, the 15-year-old stepped up and how: scoring 776 runs at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 237.30. The astonishing 72 sixes broke Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in a season. And he also came close to breaking the milestone of the fastest century.Although his IPL franchise (Rajasthan Royals) did not make it to the finals, the boy from Bihar spread out to reap the rewards at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Orange hat. Emerging player of the season. Super Striker of the Season. Super Sixes of the Season. Most Valuable Player of the Season Less than a week later, his brilliant scoring has earned him a place in India’s senior squad for the T20Is in Ireland and England.Even if the 15-year-old is apprehensive about being called up to international cricket, there is excitement. An excitement brought about by the fact that one can follow in Suryavanshi’s footsteps. Sachin TendulkarWho made his debut in India at the age of 16.And then there’s the sheer thrill of watching Suryavanshi bat — the world’s best looking ordinary. Even unaware.A closer look at these 776 runs in IPL 2026 shows how it has changed the game.
| Against the Suryavanshi type of bowler | runs | Balls | Out | SR | 4s | 6s | dot % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left-handed Chinaman | 14 | 3 | 0 | 466.66 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Left arm sharp | 18 | 8 | 0 | 225.00 | 1 | 2 | 37.50 |
| Left hand medium | 58 | 30 | 3 | 193.33 | 6 | 5 | 50.00 |
| Left wing orthodoxy | 29 | 10 | 1 | 290.00 | 2 | 3 | 20.00 |
| Right arm | 57 | 17 | 2 | 335.29 | 3 | 7 | 23.53 |
| Right arm sharp | 110 | 45 | 1 | 244.44 | 5 | 13 | 35.55 |
| Right wing leg break | 26 | 13 | 2 | 200.00 | 1 | 3 | 38.46 |
| Right wing medium | 405 | 171 | 7 | 236.84 | 42 | 31 | 30.99 |
| Right wing off break | 59 | 30 | 0 | 196.66 | 3 | 6 | 33.33 |
Having faced more right-arm bowlers than left-armers, — 276 balls against 51 — he was more lethal against the former. Of his 776 runs, 657, or 84.66 per cent, came against right-handed bowlers.Subsequently, they also fell to right-handed bowlers more than left-handed bowlers. He was dismissed 12 times by right-arm bowlers and four times by left-arm bowlers. Look further and the biggest challenge appears to be the right-arm fast bowlers. The Samastipur-born was sent back 10 times by the right-arm pacer.However, the extent to which he attacks cannot be overlooked. He faced 233 balls against right-arm pacers and right-arm medium bowlers during a memorable campaign. He scored 572 runs against these bowlers at a strike rate of 245.49. A magnificent 101 boundaries – 50 fours and 51 sixes – also came from the right-arm bowlers who bowled mostly with pace.
| length | runs | Balls | SR | Wkts | Ave | dot% | limit % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | 223 | 70 | 318.57 | 4 | 55.75 | 30.0 | 55.71 |
| A length behind | 155 | 91 | 170.32 | 2 | 77.50 | 34.0 | 27.47 |
| Length ball | 241 | 90 | 267.77 | 6 | 40.16 | 30.0 | 47.77 |
| – | 4 | 1 | 400.00 | 0 | – | 0.0 | 100.00 |
| complete | 134 | 44 | 304.54 | 2 | 67.00 | 20.4 | 56.81 |
| Yorker | 2 | 12 | 16.66 | 1 | 2.00 p.m | 83.3 | 0.00 |
| Half tracker | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | – | 100.0 | 0.00 |
| A complete toss | 13 | 17 | 76.47 | 1 | 13.00 | 52.9 | 5.88 |
| Beamer | 4 | 1 | 400.00 | 0 | – | 0.0 | 100.00 |
When Pat Cummins, and countless other bowlers, said they were running out of ideas on where to bowl Suryavanshi, they were not exaggerating.Delivering him a length ball, as the bowlers did 90 times in the campaign, he took it to 241 runs at a strike rate of 267.77.When bowlers fell short of length or were bowling, this resulted in 378 runs off 161 balls at a strike rate of 274.78, albeit with a high proportion of dot balls and dismissals.How is Suryavanshi able to get such a score?
Vibhu Suryavanshi (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
Renowned coach Zubin Bharucha told TimesofIndia.com, “Suryavanshi is redefining length in the modern game. As documented, he has a strike rate of 240+ against length balls this season, while others against the same length are doing around 140+.”“What enables him to achieve this is a superbly coiled upper half, combined with enough twist in his torso at the top of his swing. This allows his head to come out of line on most deliveries.“As a result, he is seeing balls well outside the off-stump directly in front of his eye-line, whereas for most batsmen the same ball is outside their eye-line and as a result it is more difficult to judge. “At the same time, his weight is almost completely loaded into his back leg. He’s effectively working on one leg, which in itself suggests that the weight should stay back. If you get that position and then don’t drive your hips forward, in terms of traditional batting, which is taught from the beginning of the game, your front foot can’t really move forward, or if it moves too much to transfer the weight. Because of the lack of weight on that front foot you often see him complete a shot with his front foot open and his ankle inverted, you can’t twist your ankle like that if there’s any weight on it or it breaks.
He is seeing balls well outside the off-stump directly in front of his eye-line, whereas for most batsmen the same ball is outside their eye-line and is consequently more difficult to judge.
Zubin Bharucha
“What this position at the crease achieves and enables is that the bat does all its operations (movements) in front of the stumps with the body in line with the ball. For most other batsmen the body is more in-line with the ball and the bat operates slightly outside of it. This is driven by his deep back bend which enables his hands to work in front of the stumps as some former greats did when he stood well outside the leg stumps to ensure that the bat is working in front of the stumps and the body is well inside the line. This resulted in (Donald) Bradman being lbw less than ten times in his entire career and players like Graeme Pollock never being lbw in his entire career. This is accentuated by the bend of his back and although he is not taking the outside leg stump guard, Vaibhav is still able to position himself at the crease like those former greats. “It’s all about the hip not sliding forward, and it enables him to be in such a strong coil position on one leg, from which he can create hip and shoulder separation and attack every ball. The moment the hip slides forward, as batting has been taught for the last 150 years, you commit to every length and lose the ability to receive the ball: a position from which every ball is hit.” becomes a viable option,” he explained of the 15-year-old’s technical side.
Rajasthan Royals’ Vibhav Suryavanshi won the Orange Cap for IPL 2026 after finishing as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.
If the bowlers thought that going full would potentially steal time from the left-hander, they were wrong. Suryavanshi has bowled 44 full balls in the IPL, scoring 134 runs, a strike rate of 304.54, with 56.81% of boundaries.Unsurprisingly, Suryavanshi was kept quiet by the yorkers – scoring just 2 runs off 12 balls. But surprisingly, Phil Toss reacts. He scored just 13 runs off 17 balls at a strike rate of 76.47.
Which aspect of Vibhu Suryavanshi’s batting impresses you the most?
The numbers alone make Suryavanshi’s season exceptional, but they only tell part of the story. More important is the manner in which it forced bowlers to rethink a long-held belief in cricket. Length balls disappeared, short balls were punished and even full deliveries were given a little respite.As he prepares for a potential India move, the challenge for the bowlers will be to find answers and stay one step ahead of the 15-year-old.
