IPL 2026: Pat Cummins Raves About Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Calls 'My New Favourite Player'

Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi seems to grow in stature by each passing day. The 15-year-old smashed his second Indian Premier League (IPL) century on Saturday against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Sooryavanshi scored 103 off 37 balls that included five fours and 12 sixes.

However, his blistering knock went in vain as SRH chased down the target of 228 in 18.3 overs to defeat RR by five wickets.

Just as the 15-year-old showed no mercy to the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood, he followed that up with against SRH captain Pat Cummins. The southpaw smashed a six of Cummins' first ball he faced in the match. Overall, he faced four deliveries off Cummins in the game, scoring eight runs.

Post game, Cummins was asked about his opinion on the youngster and the Australia captain went ga-ga over the Rajasthan Royals opener. Cummins had high praise for Sooryavanshi, saying the batter was his 'new favourite player.'

“I think he's my new favourite player. He hits the ball so hard, it's great to watch. It's good fun,” Cummins told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“You have to be right on the money as a bowler. If you are not, it's going a long way. It's impressive. He has had a great start to his career, and yeah, I like the way he plays. Takes the game on,” he added.

Sooryavanshi's knock saw him move to the top of the Orange Cap leaderboard but the southpaw was leapfrogged by Abhishek Sharma in the same match, with his 57-run innings. After games, Abhishek has amassed 380 runs whereas Sooryavanshi has 357 runs.

The 15-year-old registered his second-fastest ton by an Indian in the tournament. The record belongs to the left-handed batter, who went past his 35-ball mark century that he had achieved in the IPL 2025 against Gujarat Titans.