Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fell agonisingly short of hitting the fastest century in IPL history but smashed Chris Gayle’s 14‑year record for the most sixes in a season after another dazzling display for the Rajasthan Royals.
The 15‑year‑old prodigy blazed 97 off 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, his knock featuring a staggering 12 sixes and five fours at a strike-rate of 334.48.
It took Sooryavanshi to 65 sixes for the 2026 IPL season, eclipsing the 53 maximums big‑hitting West Indies star Gayle struck in 2012.
Sooryavanshi had Gayle’s 30‑ball record for the fastest‑ever IPL century in his sights too but was dismissed – slicing a Praful Hinge delivery high to Ravichandran Smaran at third man – three runs shy of his ton as a Sunrisers bowling line‑up, which featured Australia captain Pat Cummins, fought back after the teenager’s onslaught.
Sooryavanshi’s meteoric ascent into professional cricket as a 14‑year‑old debutant has left him no stranger to the record books.
He knocked five-and-a-half years off the record when he became the youngest IPL centurion and is the youngest player – and the fastest by balls faced – to reach 1,000 runs in T20 cricket.
India men cricket fixtures 2026
All times UK and Ireland 🕰️
Home to Afghanistan (multi-format) – June
- One-off Test (Saturday June 6) – New Chandigarh (5am)
- First ODI (Sunday June 14) – Dharamsala (9am)
- Second ODI (Wednesday June 17) – Lucknow (9am)
- Third ODI (Saturday June 20) – Chennai (9am)
Away to Ireland (white-ball cricket) – June
- First T20I (Friday June 26) – Stormont, Belfast (10am)
- Second T20I (Sunday June 28) – Stormont, Belfast (10am)
Away to England (white-ball cricket) – July
- First T20I (Wednesday July 1) – Chester-le-Street, Durham (5.30pm)
- Second T20I (Saturday July 4) – Old Trafford, Manchester (2.30pm)
- Third T20I (Tuesday July 7) – Trent Bridge, Nottingham (5.30pm)
- Fourth T20I (Thursday July 9) – Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (5.30pm)
- Fifth T20I (Saturday July 11) – Utilita Bowl, Southampton (2.30pm)
- First ODI (Tuesday July 14) – Edgbaston, Birmingham (11am)
- Second ODI (Thursday July 16) – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (1pm)
- Third ODI (Sunday July 19) – Lord’s, London (11am)
