Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is set to play his first full season in the IPL this year (IPL/BCCI Photo)
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has had a lot of record-breaking success over the past year or so, and as he gears up for his second IPL season, expectations are high from the 15-year-old boy prodigy.
While the jury is still out on whether he can overcome the gloom of Season 2 – with teams better prepared to take his wildness with the bat – Sooryavanshi is not the type to back down or get involved.
He showed glimpses last season that he can hold his own with the best in the Indian Premier League, scoring 252 runs in seven matches, including a century and two fifty, at a strike rate of 206.56. So, what can we expect from Sooryavanshi in its second season? A lot – plus these five famous IPL records, which were once thought to be unbeatable, could fall into the hands of the 15-year-old.
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Highest individual score – 175 (Chris Gayle)*
The highest individual score in the Indian Premier League belongs to the famous Chris Gayle, when he unleashed a veritable hailstorm – or ‘Gaylestorm’, if you want to put it that way – at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, against an unlucky Pune Warriors bowling attack with a sensational 175 not out off just 66 deliveries in the 2013 edition. His knock of 13 fours and 17 sixes was a powerful innings not seen since, and many believe it to be the record. Which can stand the test of time.
But with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breaking all sorts of records left, right and centre, is Gayle’s record finally in jeopardy? It could be very good. Sooryavanshi has a tendency to be very successful when he enters. Take a sample of this:His highest score in youth T20s is 144 off just 42 balls – and he was out in the 15th over. His highest score in youth ODIs is 175 off 80 balls in the 2026 U-19 World Cup final – and he was out in 26th place. His best 171 in the U-19 Asia Cup came from just 95 balls, and again he was out in 33rd position. He smashed 190 off 84 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and he was out in 27th position. Need any proof that this over-the-top beast can topple Chris Gayle’s unmatched record for highest individual score in the Indian Premier League?
Most sixes in an innings – 17 (Chris Gayle)
Once again, the record belongs to Gayle, thanks to the roles mentioned above.
Seventeen sixes in a team’s T20 innings in itself is an insane feat, but to overcome that alone is once again beyond comparison. Then again, records are meant to be broken, and if there’s anyone who can one-up the great Gayle, it’s the monstrous Sooryavanshi.Back to the samples: Sooryavanshi hit 15 runs in his 144 innings in the Youth T20, again 15 in the Under-19 World Cup final, and another 15 in that innings of 190 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
It should be a fair bet that Sooryavanshi can go one better with three IPL titles.
Most sixes in edition – 59 (Chris Gayle)
And if we’re betting on Sooryavanshi to break the record for most sixes in an innings, let’s take it further and expand that to the most sixes in an IPL season as well. Not surprisingly, the record is held by Gayle, who smoked 59 cigarettes in the 2012 edition. Andre Russell managed to score 52 goals for KKR in the 2019 edition. Only two players have managed to score more than 50 sixes in a single edition, with Gayle managing it twice (51 in the 2013 season).In his inaugural season, Sooryavanshi 24 notched six goals in seven matches. So, if he gets a full 14-game season, it would be modest to expect him to reach 50 games if he starts.
Highest batting average in a season – 234.34 (Jake Fraser-McGurk)
Now, this log will be difficult to parse and will need some sort of parameter. Keeping in mind that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays all 14 matches or so, and manages to face at least 10 balls in every match, we put the mark on at least 100 balls in the season to determine the best batting average.According to this, Jake Fraser-McGurk’s whirlwind 2024 season tops the list, with a strike rate of 234.34 in nine matches having faced 141 deliveries in total. And why do we think Sooryavanshi can block this? Well, last season Sooryavanshi came close to achieving that. He finished with a strike rate of 206.55 in the seven matches he played facing 122 deliveries. So, if he has a profitable season this time, Sooryavanshi has real potential to top the charts when it comes to strike rates as well – but the contender here is the sheer number of balls he faces.
Six sixes in an over
And finally, we set a record in first-class, List A and T20s cricket – excluding the Indian Premier League: six sixes in an over. The best in IPL is five sixes in five overs. Gayle was the first to do so in 2012, hitting Pune Warriors’ Rahul Sharma for five sixes. Rahul Tewatia entered IPL folklore by bowling West Indies international Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in 2020, and Ravindra Jadeja repeated the feat in 2021 against RCB’s Harshal Patel – also with a four – which equaled the most runs scored in an over.Rinku Singh then produced the most thrilling finish ever in IPL history, hitting Yash Dayal for five sixes in the final over to win the match for KKR, and in 2025, Riyan Parag smoked five sixes off KKR’s Moeen Ali. Will Sooryavanshi not only add his name to this list but complete the collection with six sixes in an over – his first ever in the IPL?
