Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle has given his stamp of approval to Indian youngster Vaibhav Suriyavanshi after the Rajasthan Royals opener broke his long-standing IPL six-scoring record during the eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Gayle, widely regarded as one of the most destructive batsmen in T20 history, dubbed the 15-year-old cricket’s “new six machine” after Suriyavanshi hit 97 off just 29 balls in Mullanpur on Wednesday.
The youngster stunned the cricketing world with 12 towering sixes and 5 fours at a staggering strike rate of 334.48.
“What an amazing player Vaibhav. Great entertainer! New six machine,” Gayle wrote on social media after the match.
Suryavanshi’s brilliant innings helped Rajasthan Royals to a total of 243-8 and rewrote IPL history.
His 12 sixes in this match took his season tally to 65 in IPL 2026.
With this, he broke Gayle’s record of 59 sixes in the 2012 season with Royal Challengers Bangalore. It is noteworthy that Suriyavanshi reached the milestone in just 266 balls compared to Gayle’s 456-ball effort.
The 15-year-old came agonizingly close to another historic feat, missing out on the IPL’s fastest century by just three runs. After the match, he admitted that he was unaware of the milestone during his innings.
“I knew after the game,” he said in the post-match presentation. “My focus was on hitting sixes. I will score a century in future. But the focus was on scoring maximum runs for the team.”
Suryavanshi further exemplified his fearless approach, which has made him one of the breakout stars of the season.
“I try to analyze how to face the bowlers and how to decide the length of the boundaries. While I show good intentions, the bowler is under pressure,” he added. “We’ve won, so we’ll celebrate and focus on the next game. I’ll try to play my normal game.”
Jofra Archer bowled Rajasthan Royals for 196 in 19.2 overs as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs.
Rajasthan Royals secured a spot in Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans, but the night belonged to Suriyavanshi, whose extraordinary win earned him praise from the original “Universe Boss”.
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