One moment he was sending balls into the stands at will, the next he was struggling to walk off the field. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s unforgettable night in Jaipur had everything, a record-breaking century and a worrying injury scare. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener was tremendous once again, this time against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), smashing a 36-ball century, the third-fastest of all-time in IPL history.
However, the 15-year-old limped off the field during the second innings after appearing to hurt his hamstring while chasing a ball to the boundary. Ishan Kishan hit Jofra Archer over covers. It happened early, on the final ball of the third over, when he sprinted across but couldn’t cut it off. He pulled up almost immediately, went down in discomfort, and needed the physio’s attention.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi injury update
For a moment, it didn’t look great. He got back up, but not comfortably. In fact, he needed support to walk off the park. There was a visible limp and a hand on the hamstring, and soon after, he walked off the field. After batting for 14 overs in the first innings, that too, in the heat of Jaipur, Sooryavanshi would’ve definitely been at a loss of water in his body. That perhaps caught up and thankfully Sooryavanshi was taken out.
Rajasthan Royals would have been holding their breath. A player of his calibre and importance, even a slight niggle can create a worrisome environment in the team. However, there was some relief later.
Batting coach Vikram Rathour shared a calmer assessment after the game. “He was feeling something in his hamstring but now he’s looking okay. They’ve treated him, so he’s looking fine. We’ll know in a day or so but doesn’t look like anything serious,” Rathour said in the post-match press conference. That last line matters. ‘Not serious’. For now, at least, RR can hope it’s just a minor struggle rather than something that sidelines their biggest spark this season.
A 36-ball storm that rewrote the script
Before the injury scare, Sooryavanshi had already done something ridiculous.
A 36-ball hundred. Third-fastest in IPL history. Only Chris Gayle’s 30-ball effort and his own 35-ball knock from last season sit ahead of it. That tells you the kind of space he is operating in. He didn’t build into the innings. He blew it open from ball one. Four sixes in the opening over set the tone, and it never really came down from there. By the time SRH tried to adjust, the game had already moved.
His fifty came in 15 balls. Again. That’s now three such fifties for him in the IPL, something no one else has managed. And once he crossed that mark, the acceleration didn’t stop.
Twelve sixes in the innings. The most by an Indian in IPL history. Clean hits, not mishits. He wasn’t just clearing the ropes, he was picking bowlers apart. Even injured at Pat Cummins wasn’t spared. Sooryavanshi also became the fastest to 1000 T20 runs in terms of balls faced. Multiple hundreds under 40 balls. At 15, he is not just breaking records, he is stacking them.
