Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has praised Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after the teenager became the youngest player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history to win the Orange Cap.
At 15 years and 65 days old, Sooryavanshi set a new IPL record for the youngest Orange Cap winner, surpassing Gujarat Titans opener Sudharsan who won it at 23 years and 231 days in 2025, while Shubman Gill had held the record at 23 years and 263 days in 2023.
Speaking to ANI after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) consecutive IPL title victory over the Titans in the 2026 final, Sharma said, “He’s a brilliant player, an extraordinary player, and it was a pleasure to see him give such a wonderful performance at such a young age.”
Sooryavanshi dominated the awards at the conclusion of IPL 2026, receiving the Most Valuable Player, Emerging Player of the Season, Super Striker of the Season, Orange Cap winner, and Super Sixes of the Season awards.
The 15-year-old Bihar-born batsman had an outstanding tournament for Rajasthan Royals, finishing as the highest run-scorer with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30.
His consistent performances, including a record-breaking 72 sixes, helped him break several long-standing IPL records and establish himself as one of the most promising talents in Indian cricket.
Sooryavanshi narrowly missed equalling Virat Kohli’s record of four centuries in a season, having been dismissed in the nineties three times: 93 against Lucknow Super Giants, 97 in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and 96 in Qualifier 2 versus Gujarat Titans, in addition to his century against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
He also reached the milestone of 1,000 IPL runs in record time, achieving it in 440 balls, surpassing West Indies legend Andre Russell. In terms of innings, he became the second fastest, accomplishing it in 23 innings, behind Shaun Marsh who holds the record at 21 innings.
“It feels good, but I feel a bit under pressure having to give the interview. I am not drinking milk nowadays. How to play each game, you can’t play every game the same way. If I have to stay injury-free, I have to work on my fitness. Everyone is very supportive. All senior players, support staff, everyone backs me, and it’s a good atmosphere,” Sooryavanshi said after winning the Most Valuable Player of the season award.
In the IPL 2026 final, after RCB won the toss and put Gujarat Titans to bat, GT scored 155/8 in 20 overs, with Washington Sundar (50* in 37 balls, including five fours) and Nishant Sindhu (20 in 18 balls with three fours) as the only batsmen to exceed 20 runs. Rasikh Dar Salam (3/27), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/29) and Josh Hazlewood (2/37) took wickets regularly.
RCB started strongly with a 62-run partnership between Venkatesh Iyer (32 in 16 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Virat Kohli. Gujarat Titans showed some resistance, reducing RCB to 132/5 at one point, but Kohli (75* in 42 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) guided RCB to victory with two overs remaining.
This marks RCB’s second IPL title and their fourth Indian franchise cricket trophy overall, which includes two Women’s Premier League titles.