Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has seemingly the entirety of India and world cricket in awe, and legendary India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is no exception. The 15-year-old hammered a 36-ball century for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2026 match on Saturday; it wasn’t even his fastest IPL hundred. A jaw-dropped Ashwin expressed his amazement after the game, stating that the excitement to watch Sooryavanshi bat has also gripped his entire family, who sit together to watch Rajasthan Royals games just for the youngster.
“You have to praise Sooryavanshi. How well did he bat! The moment he got out, all of us at home became sad – my mother, my father” Ashwin said, speaking on his YouTube channel.
“I watch every RR game with my mom and dad. They’re No. 1 fans (of Sooryavanshi). I’ve never seen my father admire anyone the way he admires Vaibhav. With every shot, he gets so excited,” Ashwin elaborated.
My whole family is a huge fan of Vaibhav Suryavanshi – Ravi Ashwin!
“I watch every Rajasthan Royals game with Mom and Dad. Man, I’m telling you, they are massive Vaibhav Suryavanshi fans. I’ve never seen my father admire anyone the way he admires Vaibhav. With every shot, he… pic.twitter.com/8iFG2xoN8c
— AK 45 (@ImRo45_Club) April 25, 2026
“My mother keeps saying, ‘Look at his chubby cheeks!’ and ‘Look at that celebration!’… the way she is admiring this young kid!” Ashwin further said.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi said that a fearless mindset and backing his natural game were key to his stunning century
“There wasn’t any specific plan to hit the first ball. But we had a discussion before the match. Yash bhaiya (Yashasvi Jaiswal) said that we should play freely today. If we get the opportunity from the first ball, we should back our game – and that’s exactly what happened,” Sooryavanshi said to broadcasters after his innings.
He added that his approach in the opening over, where he smashed four sixes, was purely instinctive. “There wasn’t much thinking, sir. I just played according to the ball. The wicket felt good, so I backed my game.”
Sooryavanshi also revealed that he keeps his preparation simple but focused, relying heavily on visualisation before stepping onto the field.
“Sir, I think about which bowlers are in the opposition, what shots I can play against them, and how big the boundaries are on both sides. I try to visualise all of that,” he said.
At the time of writing, Sooryavanshi sits second in the list of most runs scored in IPL 2026, having smashed 357 runs in eight matches at a strike-rate of 234.86.
With ANI inputs
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