Chris Gayle was a T20 phenomenon. And not every day does a batter get the opportunity to break one of his records, especially one tied to pure destruction. But if there was one player capable of threatening those marks at will, it was always going to be Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
The boy wonder, who has captured every emotion imaginable in IPL 2026, once again lit up New Chandigarh on Wednesday night during the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad. With breathtaking clarity, fearlessness and power, Sooryavanshi broke Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL season. He finished with 65 sixes, and stood just one hit away from another historic milestone: the fastest century in IPL history.
But on 97 off just 28 balls, his attempted upper cut flew straight to the fielder at third man.
Sooryavanshi was crestfallen. The entire Mullanpur crowd, phones out and ready to capture history, stood stunned. In the Rajasthan dugout, players had their hands on their heads in disbelief.
For a few seconds, Sooryavanshi barely moved. Only after pats on the back from SRH players and batting partner Yashasvi Jaiswal did he slowly begin walking back.
Yet, by his own admission, the teenager had no idea he was close to breaking Gayle’s record.
Speaking during the post-match presentation after receiving the Player of the Match award, Sooryavanshi revealed that personal milestones were never on his mind. His focus remained solely on helping Rajasthan Royals win.
Perhaps the painful memory of his century against the same opposition in Jaipur earlier this season — a knock that still ended in defeat — was somewhere in his thoughts.
“Mere 100s lagte rahenge,” he said. (“I will keep scoring hundreds.”)
When asked about narrowly missing Gayle’s record, he added: “I found out only after I got out. At that time, my only focus was to contribute as much as I could because centuries will keep happening, but right now the focus is on how to win the trophy.”
“If I feel I’m having trouble somewhere, I work on that. I don’t think about what the opposition is planning, that’s their plan. I focus on what my plan is, and I just try to play normal cricket.”
Sooryavanshi has already scored two centuries in his short IPL career.
The first came last season, a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans that made him the youngest T20 centurion in history and the fastest Indian to the landmark. A year later, at the same Jaipur venue, he hammered a 36-ball century against Hyderabad.
He also came close to a third hundred earlier this month with a blistering 93 against Lucknow Super Giants.
This time, unlike Jaipur, Sooryavanshi’s brilliance ended in victory.
Rajasthan Royals now march into Qualifier 2, where Gujarat Titans await them.
