Rajasthan Royals teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has set a tradition in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 by opening his account with boundaries against some of the best bowlers in the world. He even smashed Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the finest pacer in the world, for a six on the first ball he faced against him. However, former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop doesn’t think Sooryavanshi would be able to do the same against Mitchell Starc, the Australia superstar he is set to face when the Rajasthan Royals go head-to-head against the Delhi Capitals in the IPL on Friday.
“No, I think you have to give Mitchell Starc credit. He’ll come better prepared; he won’t be Jasprit Bumrah,” the former West Indies pacer, said on ESPNCricinfo. His comment, however, is expected to charge Sooryavanshi, with the 15-year-old taking it more as a challenge than a verdict.
Sooryavanshi has poleaxed some top-of-the-draw bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood etc in the ongoing edition of the IPL.
“I think his psychological makeup is efficient enough to take on the best bowlers in the world. He took on Jasprit Bumrah. Technically, he’s kind of unique with his bat swing, more like a baseball sort of swing,” Bishop, an ESPNcricinfo expert, told the media.
Bishop said there is no tangible weakness in Sooryavanshi’s batting, forcing seasoned bowlers to frantically look for alternate plans against the 15-year-old.
“It’s very hard to see exactly what his weakness is because the back of a length delivery has worked against him, for example, in the under-19 World Cup and against Sunrisers Hyderabad. But then if you don’t get that back-of-a-length delivery where he pulls and top edges early, those same deliveries disappear out of the park.
“So, I think, technically, he’s set up very well. He has a number of world-class bowlers in this tournament going through plan A, plan B, plan C, plan E, F, and G. And that’s a good sign that he has all these veterans of the game, having to go through a whole host of plans as they try to go yorker, yorker, at him in the previous game. So I think he’s set up well,” he added.
With PTI Inputs