Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made a mocker of the SRH bowling attack. (BCCI/Creimas Photo)Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and put Rajasthan Royals in to bat in the Eliminator at Chandigarh. By the time Sakib Hussain ran in for the fifth delivery of the fourth over, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had already hit six sixes. He stood still in the crease and waited. Hussain had been predictable – a quick delivery followed by a slower one, then another quick one. Off the fifth, he tried to bluff Sooryavanshi with another slower ball, the kind that even the best batsmen have struggled to pick from his hand thanks to his quick arm speed. Sooryavanshi had already been deceived once in three deliveries. He was not going to be fooled again. As the ball angled away, he stood, waited, and sent it over long-off.FOLLOW LIVE | SRH VS RR IPL 2026 ELIMINATORThat was six number 60 for the season. A world record in a T20 tournament, overtaking Chris Gayle. The Jamaican had taken 456 deliveries to hit those 60 sixes in the 2012 IPL season – the year Sooryavanshi was one year old. In 2012, Gayle was the undisputed king of T20 power hitting, rewriting what the format thought was possible. That record stood for fourteen years. Sooryavanshi got there off 263 deliveries, in a different era, against attacks that have had fourteen years to evolve specifically to stop batsmen like him. He was past 600 runs for the season too, the fastest to that landmark, at a strike rate of 237.77. No batter had touched 200 while scoring as many.We are out of words 9⃣7⃣(29) of absolute force from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Updates ▶️ https://t.co/OBIYYIuhbt #TATAIPL | #Eliminator | #TheFinalLeap | #SRHvRR pic.twitter.com/gtt63Wwkx1— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 27, 2026https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsBeyond the numbers, the manner of the sixes told their own story. When Sooryavanshi arrived on the scene last season, he was heavily reliant on the leg side. Bowlers who stayed wide of off stump and denied him that arc could at least contain him. This year the range has expanded – the fierce cut, the upper cut, the straight loft, the pull over fine leg. There is no safe area anymore. Sunrisers Hyderabad had come into the Eliminator with a gameplan built specifically around this knowledge. Pat Cummins attacked the stumps, denying the left-hander room, feeding nothing into his hitting arc. It was disciplined, intelligent bowling – exactly the kind that has troubled aggressive left-handers all season. The problem was that Sooryavanshi is not quite like other aggressive left-handers. It did not matter.The first six off Cummins came in the opening over – a nonchalant loft straight over his head off a ball aimed at the stumps. In the next over, Eshan Malinga aimed at his throat, cramping him for room. Sooryavanshi arched back and pulled it over fine leg.Then came three successive sixes off Cummins. The first was barely a chip – a fuller ball on the stumps, barely any swing of the bat, clearing the straight boundary. Cummins went short next. Predictable, and Sooryavanshi upper cut it over third man. Then a slower ball angling away – and Sooryavanshi hit it straight again. The record came off the very next delivery from Hussain. Only after that did Sooryavanshi go to his favourite arc – mid-wicket – to bring up a 16-ball half century.The storm became a hurricane. Off the next seven deliveries he faced, Sooryavanshi hit three fours and four sixes – over fine leg, two over deep square leg, one over square leg. A fastest IPL century was there for the taking – by the youngest player ever to score one, in an Eliminator, at a strike rate that would have made the record almost incomprehensible. He missed it by three runs, falling for 97. But in 29 deliveries, he had done what only Sooryavanshi does. Ninety-seven runs, twelve sixes, five fours, a strike rate of 334.48.He is 15 years old. This is the era of T20 babies, players who have grown up treating the format’s most demanding moments as their natural habitat. But what separates Sooryavanshi from the rest is not just the power – it is the waiting, the reading, the patience inside the aggression. He stood still in the crease and let the slower ball come to him. That is not something you teach a 15-year-old. That is something he already knows.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:IPL 2026Vaibhav Suryavanshi