Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will be at the centre stage in his first IPL playoff game as Rajasthan Royals take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. So far, Sooryavanshi has not shown nerves against the best bowlers in the business. Will the big occasion curb him back? Seems unlikely though.
Sooryavanshi has had mixed outings on big stages in his short career till now. He was criticised by the Indian fans after his evil shot against Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup final when he was dismissed for 10-ball 26, and all the other Indian batters also succumbed. However, he course corrected and showed what he is capable of after smashing an out-of-the-world 175 off just 80 balls in the U19 World Cup 2026 final against England.
Things won't be too easy for Sooryavanshi in the Eliminator as there would be the likes of Pat Cummins, Eshan Malinga and Sakib Hussain breathing fire in the opposition camp. But the RR prodigy knows to go only one way, and that is to attack.
He has taken the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood apart with his insane stroke-playing to hit them for sixes for fun. The 15-year-old has already smashed 53 maximums in 14 league stage games and would be gunning for more against SRH.
Like on the big stages, Sooryavanshi has had mixed performances against the SRH this season. He was dismissed for a rare golden duck in the first fixture between these two sides in Hyderabad but went on to smash a jaw-dropping 103 from 37 balls in the reverse fixture at home in Jaipur.
Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan key for SRH
On the other side of the spectrum would be the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. All three of them had hit blistering half-centuries in SRH's previous game against the RCB when they tried taking their team to the first Qualifier, but fell short as the task was way too big to pip them on NRR.
After a hot and cold T20 World Cup, Abhishek looks more of himself as he is the third-highest run-scorer for SRH this season with 563 runs, while Kishan and Klaasen are above him. Kishan, who stood in for Pat Cummins in the first few matches, has amassed 569 runs with six half-centuries, while Klaasen has made 606 runs with six fifties to his name as well.
The South African has become the first-ever batter to have hit more than 600 runs in a T20 tournament batting at No.4 or lower. Klaasen has been the key in the finishes.
The bowling unit that might decide the fate
While the batting of both these sides is not much dissimilar to each other, the bowling might hold the edge in deciding this contest. Jofra Archer has been the chief destructor for RR, having taken 21 wickets this season while decimating the opposition. However, he has lacked support from others, with none of the other RR bowlers being in the top 15 of the purple cap leaderboard apart from the England international.
This is where SRH hold a slight advantage. Eshan Malinga is having a season to remember as he has turned heads with his performances. He has taken 19 wickets in 14 matches and has found able support from the likes of Sakib Hussain and Pat Cummins. Hussain has taken 15 wickets in 10 matches, while having joined late, Cummins has eight scalps in seven outings. Praful Hinge has gone for runs but has also picked up 11 wickets in six matches in the opportunities he has had.
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