Rajasthan Royals’ batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after smashing a 15-ball fifty against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL 2026 match on Monday, revealed that he has been given a free-hand by the team management including the head coach Kumar Sangakkara to play his aggressive brand of cricket.
Sooryavanshi, who turned 15, three days before the match, said that he missed the cake cutting on the day of his birthday as he had gone off to sleep early. But the real reason to miss the cake cutting was something else.
“I didn’t really do anything outside – there was supposed to be a cake cutting, but I went to sleep early to avoid the cake-smearing,” Sooryavanshi said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
After bowling out CSK for 127, the Royals completed the chase in 12.1 overs with eight wickets in hand. Sooryavanshi described the Guwahati pitch to be a bit sticky initially, making shot-making difficult.
“The plan today was simply to execute well in the powerplay — initially the wicket felt a bit sticky, but as the ball got older, it started coming onto the bat nicely,” he said.
Asked about his batting approach in the run-chase, the young batting talent said that the powerplay was cricial.
“I do think about defence, but today our plan was to control the game in the powerplay because in a small chase, that phase is crucial – if the bowling team does well there, the game can tilt their way, but our powerplay went really well.”
He also added that there is lot of support from the coaches to play my natural game. “The coaches didn’t specifically say that bowlers would attack me – everyone else was already saying that – but they just told me that they back me and that I should stick to my natural game and play according to the situation.”
How was it opening the innings with India Test batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, he said, “My opening partner keeps communicating with me after every ball – he tells me when to take singles, keeps giving me the strike, and encourages me to keep playing my shots if the ball is coming nicely onto the bat.”
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad rued the decision to bat first when the conditions favoured the bowlers.
“Felt the conditions at the start were tough, especially against Jofra (Archer). It was tough against medium pacers, spinners were getting assistance as well. Maybe we could’ve batted deeper but you never know a good score these days so had to keep going,” Gaikwad said.
