There was a time when Chris Gayle walked out to bat in the IPL and everyone stopped whatever they were doing. Bowlers searched for hiding spots, captains ran out of ideas, and fans waited for sixes to rain into the stands. Gayle’s batting felt unreal back then. The Universe Boss made hitting sixes look effortless and many of his records seemed untouchable. But in IPL 2026, a 15-year-old has gone a level above, perhaps.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has taken the tournament by storm and now even Chris Gayle has reacted after the Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener broke his long-standing record for most sixes in a single IPL season. During RR’s Eliminator clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mullanpur, Sooryavanshi smashed his way to 65 sixes for the season, going past Gayle’s previous record of 59 set in 2012.
Now, Gayle, the Universe Boss himself, has credited Sooryavanshi for his feat. “What a phenomenal player Vaibhav is. Great entertainment, young man! New Six machine,” Gayle wrote on his Instagram. He attached photos from the live IPL feed with the broadcasters fittingly naming Sooryavanshi, “Universal baby boss”.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi destroys SRH in IPL 2026 Eliminator
The biggest match of Sooryavanshi’s young career brought out his best. Facing a dangerous SRH attack in the Eliminator, the RR opener hammered 97 runs off just 29 balls and completely changed the game within the first eight overs.
Pat Cummins had admitted before the match that SRH had prepared multiple plans to stop the teenager. None of them worked.
Sooryavanshi started by taking on Cummins himself. After being tested with yorkers early on, he launched the SRH captain for multiple sixes and never looked back. The RR opener raced to a 16-ball fifty, equalling Suresh Raina’s record for the joint-fastest fifty in IPL playoff history.
His knock was delight to watch. Pulls, lofted drives, flicks over square leg and clean hits down the ground left SRH bowlers helpless. By the end of the powerplay, he had already smashed 60 runs off just 20 deliveries. During the innings, Sooryavanshi also became the first batter in IPL history to score 600 runs in a season at a strike rate above 200.
Most sixes in an IPL season
| Player | Sixes | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 60* | 2026 |
| Chris Gayle | 59 | 2012 |
| Andre Russell | 52 | 2019 |
| Chris Gayle | 51 | 2013 |
| Jos Buttler | 45 | 2022 |
He nearly scripted another record as well. Batting on 97 off 28 balls, Sooryavanshi needed one hit to register the fastest IPL century ever. But Praful Hinge finally dismissed him with a short ball on the final delivery of the over.
Even then, the Mullanpur crowd rose to applaud. SRH players patted him on the back. The teenager himself looked disappointed despite producing one of the greatest playoff knocks in IPL history.
Suryakumar Yadav joins praise for RR teenager
India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav also reacted after the innings and praised Sooryavanshi for his fearless approach.
“Chin up boy. What a CLASS innings, you’ve taken everyone’s breath away,” Surya posted on X.
Interestingly, Sooryavanshi later admitted that he was unaware of how close he came to several records during the innings.
“I got to know after the game,” he said while speaking about missing out on the fastest IPL hundred.
“My focus was on hitting a six. I will score centuries in future, but the focus was on getting maximum runs for the team.”
