3 min readNew DelhiMay 18, 2026 08:50 AM IST
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s immaculate bat-swing and back-foot presence have terrorised almost every bowler of note in the IPL 2026 season, and things were no different in Delhi on Sunday night. The Rajasthan Royals southpaw crunched the first ball he faced from Lungi Ngidi, a quicker bouncer, for a six over deep backward square leg. He proceeded to take down left-arm quick Mitchell Starc with a flurry of boundaries that RR off to a fiery start against the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
On a partly dry surface, Sooryavanshi was then troubled by the bowlers’ subtle variations in pace. The left-hander first offered a chance in the fifth over against debutant spinner Tripurana Vijay. Early on a charged slog, the 15-year-old skied the shot just out of the mid-on fielder’s reach as he ran backwards. He eventually fell for 46 off 21 deliveries in the eighth over, with right-arm seamer Madhav Tiwari inducing a false slog towards long-on off another slower delivery on length.
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Rajasthan batting coach Vikram Rathour downplayed Sooryavanshi’s concerns against slower balls as a discernible weakness, even as clever variations in speeds have undone the teen sensation a few times this season.
No one’s perfect
“Nobody is perfect. Everybody will have some weakness here and there. Slow ball isn’t a weakness for Vaibhav. I will want bowlers to try that. On a wicket like this, where the ball is gripping a bit, a change of pace is good against anybody,” Rathour said after RR’s five-wicket defeat to Delhi.
“It’s not only Vaibav who is a special player. I think enough has been said about his ability and how good he is. So, again, he’s provided us a really good start, looking at the surface again. I just hope he converts one inning and goes deeper.
“And the way he’s batting, the way he prepares, I’m sure that’s not too far off. We’ll see one of those innings which he’ll really convert and play a big knock. But otherwise, we are pretty happy with the way he’s batting and we want him to bat that way,” remarked Rathour.
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Citing the example of Virat Kohli, Rathour also stressed that each batter will find unique way to score runs in the T20 format, even without natural power-hitting instincts.
“If you back your strengths and play to your strengths, you can score runs. Dhruv [Jurel] need not bat like Vaibhav. Vaibhav shouldn’t look to bat like Dhruv. They have their own ways of scoring runs,” said Rathour.
“If they keep backing that and keep believing in their ability, they can succeed easily. You have seen that happening. Somebody like Virat, who is still extremely successful, even in this format. I wouldn’t call him an out-and-out power-hitting player. That tells you that there is scope for everybody to succeed, provided you have belief in your abilities.”
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