NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi etched another remarkable chapter in his extraordinary IPL 2026 season on Tuesday, smashing 93 off just 38 balls against Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur. His innings set a string of records, further cementing his status as the breakout star of the tournament.
Youngest to 500 runs and fastest strike rate among elite
At just 15, the Rajasthan opener has turned every outing into a record hunt. His latest assault came during a chase of 221. Although he fell agonisingly short of a second century this season, the teenager still walked away having reached and broken several milestones. Sooryavanshi became the youngest player in IPL history to score 500 runs in a season, surpassing Rishabh Pant, who had set the previous mark as a 20-year-old for Delhi in 2018. He now has 574 runs in IPL 2026, and more impressively, has done so at a strike rate of 236.3 — the highest ever for a batter in an IPL season with 500-plus runs. That number places him comfortably above some of the most explosive campaigns in league history, including Andre Russell's 204.8 in 2019 and Abhishek Sharma's 202.0 this season.
Highest strike-rate in an IPL season (min 500+ runs)
- 236.3 - Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (2026)*
- 204.8 - Andre Russell (2019)
- 202.0 - Abhishek Sharma (2026)
- 196.2 - Nicholas Pooran (2025)
- 191.5 - Travis Head (2024)
- 187.7 - Glenn Maxwell (2014)
- 183.1 - Chris Gayle (2011)
Six-hitting record falls again
The 15-year-old also became the first Indian to hit 50 sixes in a single IPL season and has already stretched that tally to 53. Only Chris Gayle's 59 sixes in 2012 now stand above him on the all-time list. His 10 sixes against LSG also made him only the third batter in IPL history to hit 10 or more sixes in an innings on multiple occasions, joining Gayle and Abhishek. In the current season, only Finn Allen has managed that feat twice. Rajasthan's powerplay dominance has also been driven almost entirely by the teenager. According to CricViz, RR now hold the record for most sixes in the powerplay in a single IPL season with 60. Sooryavanshi alone accounts for 37 of those.
Most sixes in an IPL season
- 59 - Chris Gayle (2012)
- 53* - Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (2026)
- 52 - Andre Russell (2019)
- 51 - Chris Gayle (2013)
- 45 - Jos Buttler (2022)
- 44 - Chris Gayle (2011)
- 42 - Abhishek Sharma (2024)
Jaipur carnage seals huge chase
LSG had looked set for a winning total after Mitchell Marsh's 96 and Josh Inglis's 60 powered them to 220/5. But Sooryavanshi made the chase look routine. He started slowly, reaching just 11 off his first 12 balls, before exploding. He smashed 26 off an over from Akash Singh and 29 off another from Mayank Yadav, racing to a 23-ball fifty. By the time Mohsin Khan dismissed him for 93, the result was beyond doubt. Dhruv Jurel finished unbeaten on 53 as Rajasthan chased down 221 in 19.1 overs to climb to fourth in the points table.
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