Ever since 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took the IPL 2025 by storm and made a 35-ball century, bowlers around the world have been struggling to find a way to get him out.

Now a year older and wiser, he hasn’t abandoned his aggressive ways and, in fact, has improved his performance over last year. The Bihar left-hander held the orange cap in IPL 2026 for a while and is still in contention for the cap as he is currently the fourth-best runner this season.

So far, the 15-year-old has made 246 runs in six matches at an impressive average of 237 runs. He also has two fifties, both of which he reached in just 15 balls.

“You’ll probably hurt a calf or hamstring before your captain asks you to bowl” – Steven Finn

Speaking on the ‘For The Love of Cricket’ podcast, hosted by former England pacer Stuart Broad, Broad’s compatriot and also former pacer Steven Finn initially joked that bowlers might have to pretend to be injured if they don’t want to bowl against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

“You’ll probably hurt a calf or a hamstring or something before your captain asks you to bowl,” Finn said jokingly.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has brought reputed names like Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood to the cleanup this year and has made everyone rack their brains for an answer.

“It seems incredibly difficult, doesn’t it? Even just watching the videos of him training in the nets against Jofra Archer, who tries everything. Full and wide, short, full and straight… and they were all going towards the limit,” Finn observed.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could be caught out by a tight line

Finn said the best way to take out Vaibhav Sooryavanshi might be to catch him off guard. He went on to say that the best way to achieve this was by bowling a tight line around the back of a length and protecting the leg side with fielders.

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“When someone likes to play as freely as he does, you’d think a few in and around the tight boundary and the back of the length, or over the top of the stumps, would try to protect the leg side to begin with,” Finn said.

“And then if you could throw a full, slow, wide throw and have him hit it after three or four tight throws, you could catch him off guard,” he added.

“Pot of luck right now” – Steven Finn

Finn finally concluded by saying that with the way Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is currently batting, the players may need luck on their side apart from just their skill if they have to dismiss the teenager.

“At the moment it seems like it’s a matter of luck whether you get it or not,” Finn said.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) started the season strongly with four wins in a row but have now lost their last two matches. RR are currently in third place in the points table with eight points from six matches.

RR will take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on April 22 for their next match. LSG itself is on a three-game losing streak and is ninth in the points table. Depending on what happens on Tuesday, the clash against LSG could give Sooryavanshi another chance to push for the Orange Cap.