Pat Cummins found himself on the receiving end of a remarkable performance by 15-year-old Indian prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi as the Rajasthan Royals advanced to the finals of the Indian Premier League by eliminating the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Suryavanshi, batting first, delivered an extraordinary innings, scoring 97 runs off just 29 balls with 12 sixes. A significant portion of his score came against Cummins, who was left with a disappointing return of 0-64 from his four overs.
Cummins had planned to keep Suryavanshi in check with yorkers, but the left-hander quickly adapted to the strategy. After navigating the initial deliveries, Suryavanshi started hitting the ball with increasing confidence, leading to a string of sixes. In total, Suryavanshi hit four of his 12 sixes off Cummins’ bowling, leaving the Sunrisers captain visibly stunned after the match.
Earlier in the tournament, Cummins had praised Suryavanshi, calling him his “new favourite player.” However, he admitted that the young batsman’s ability to capitalise on small mistakes made it difficult to contain him.
“Yeah, he played pretty well, don’t feel like you have too many options,” Cummins said after the match. “Obviously, it’s a really good pitch, but the margins are so small you know. You miss your yorker by a little bit, he doesn’t tend to miss them. So yeah, fair play.”
Suryavanshi was close to achieving the fastest century in IPL history when he was dismissed. However, he revealed that his focus was solely on helping Rajasthan reach a high total.
“I found out only after I got out,” he said. “At that time, my only focus was to contribute as much as I could because centuries will keep happening, but right now, the focus is on how to win the trophy.”
The Rajasthan Royals, under the guidance of coach Kumar Sangakkara, have managed Suryavanshi effectively, providing him with ample opportunities to practice without overwhelming him with too many instructions.
“That’s the thing, we don’t have any conversations,” said Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag at the presentation. “Yeah, just leave him alone, let him go and have fun. He likes batting, like I’ve said before, so we get him a lot of batting practice at the nets and stuff like that and then he goes out and does his thing.”
Meanwhile, Cummins is set to return home for rest and pre-season preparations ahead of a demanding Test schedule over the next 12 months, starting with two Tests against Bangladesh in northern Australia in August.
Suryavanshi’s performance has also been notable in terms of statistics. With 12 sixes in this innings, he surpassed Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL tournament, which had stood at 59. Suryavanshi achieved this in just 266 balls, compared to Gayle’s 456.
“He hasn’t seen him do too many interviews at games, either pre- or post-match, unless he’s won an award,” said Aaron Finch earlier in the tournament. “So I haven’t seen him exposed too much in that regard, and that’s a huge tick to the Royals for really managing him well and almost treating him like a kid up to a point. But the hype is real with him, he’s a seriously good player.”
The Sunrisers Hyderabad, known for their high-scoring performances under Cummins’ leadership, struggled in their chase of 244 runs. England’s Jofra Archer played a crucial role in dismantling their innings, taking three wickets for 58 runs.
Archer, who bowled at a high pace, clean-bowled Travis Head, Cummins’ Test deputy, and his performance proved more effective than Cummins’ own efforts.
In addition, Archer expressed confidence that Suryavanshi would soon score 150 or more in a T20 innings.
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