New Chandigarh, May 27 (IANS) Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scaled another extraordinary peak in his record-breaking campaign at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Wednesday as the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals opener became the first player in the world to hit 61 sixes in a single T20 tournament, surpassing Chris Gayle’s long-standing benchmark against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator.

Gayle had smashed 59 sixes for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during his iconic 2012 IPL season, a record that stood untouched for 14 years despite the evolution of ultra-aggressive batting in franchise cricket. He also became the first teenager ever to score 600 runs in a T20 tournament before turning 20.

The young left-hander from Bihar has set new records throughout an impressive IPL campaign. He now leads the list for most runs scored by a teenager in a T20 tournament. His total of 600 runs in just 15 matches surpasses Devdutt Padikkal’s previous record of 580 runs for Karnataka in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Vaibhav’s outstanding season has put him ahead of several established stars who made early impacts as teenagers. Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma is now third on the all-time list with 397 runs in IPL 2022.

South Africa’s Lhuan-dre Pretorius also scored 397 runs in the 2024-25 SA20 season for Paarl Royals. England’s Will Smeed, France’s Gustav McKeon, and Indian stars Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw are also among the players Vaibhav has surpassed.

The Rajasthan Royals opener has also broken the record for the most runs by a teenager in a single IPL season. Before this year, Tilak Varma’s 397-run season for the Mumbai Indians in 2022 was the standard for teenage batters in the tournament.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bowl against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh, on Wednesday. Sunrisers Hyderabad made one change to their XI, bringing in Praful Hinge in place of Salil Arora. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Royals also tweaked their combination with Ravindra Jadeja replacing Shubham Dubey in the starting lineup.

–IANS

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