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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued his impressive run as one of the most exciting young batsmen of IPL 2026 with an audacious 46 against Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. The 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals opener attacked from the outset and provided his team another quick start though the hosts lost the game by five wickets in the end.

Sooryavanshi looked unfazed in the early part of the innings smacking the very first ball he faced from Lungi Ngidi over deep backward square leg for six and then went after Mitchell Starc producing a string of attacking shots.

He went on to score 46 off just 21 deliveries, showcasing his clean hitting and fearless approach once again, but bowlers managed to trouble him with the slower variations and changes of pace on a wicket that was starting to grip.

After a dropped catch off the bowling of Tripurana Vijay who dropped him with a miscued slog while attempting to slog on the third ball he bowled, he was finally out in the 8th over to seamer Madhav Tiwari when a well disguised slower ball on length forced another false shot on the opener.

Post match Rajasthan Royals' batting coach Vikram Rathour defended his charge and said that claims of him having a weakness against slow balls are incorrect.

Rathour said : 

"Nobody is perfect. Everybody will have some weakness here and there. Slow ball isn't a weakness for Vaibhav. I would want bowlers to try that. On a wicket like this where the ball is gripping a bit a change of pace is good against anybody," 

The former India batting coach also backed the teenager's free-flowing batting style and was pleased with his aggressive intent.

Rathour added :

"It's not only Vaibav who is a special player. I think enough has been said about his ability and how good he is. So, again, he's provided us a really good start, looking at the surface again. I just hope he converts one inning and goes deeper."

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Rathour compared the youngster's batting approach with Virat Kohli's successful technique in T20 cricket emphasizing that power-hitting alone is not the only way to succeed.

He Concluded : 

"If you back your strengths and play to your strengths, you can score runs. Dhruv [Jurel] need not bat like Vaibhav. Vaibhav shouldn't look to bat like Dhruv,  You have seen that happening. Somebody like Virat, who is still extremely successful, even in this format. I wouldn't call him an out-and-out power-hitting player. That tells you that there is scope for everybody to succeed, provided you have belief in your abilities."

Sooryavanshi has already accumulated 440 runs in 11 matches this season at a strike rate of over 236, becoming one of IPL 2026's biggest stories.