New delhi: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will instill the same fear in the bowlers' minds that West Indian marauder Chris Gayle had managed to do in his prime, according to former India pacer Irfan Pathan.

Sooryavanshi, with 53 sixes in the ongoing IPL, is within touching distance of the record 59 that Gayle struck in the 2012 season.

On Wednesday against Lucknow Super Giants, the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals batter hammered a 38-ball 93 that was dotted with 10 maximums and seven fours. The brutal knock steered his team to a facile seven-wicket win despite being in pursuit of a steep 221. "With 53 sixes, he is actually going after Chris Gayle's record of 59 sixes, which has stood since 2012. As bowlers, we were always scared of facing Gayle," he said. agencies