'Can't Vote, Can't Drive': Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Receives Stunning Praise From R Ashwin
R Ashwin was left awestruck by Rajasthan Royals' young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi following his explosive batting performance against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026.
Former Indian spinner R Ashwin was left awestruck by Rajasthan Royals' young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi following his explosive batting performance against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026 on Tuesday. Sooryavanshi slammed 39 off just 14 deliveries to give RR a brilliant start; his knock included two stunning sixes against star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. It was a destructive innings from the 15-year-old, who completely dominated the MI bowlers as RR went on to register a comfortable 27-run win in the rain-truncated game. Ashwin pointed out that Sooryavanshi did not let the stature of a bowler like Bumrah affect his mindset. He even joked that while the youngster is too young to vote or drive, it didn't stop him from clearing the ropes against India's premier fast bowler.
“I just have one question for Vaibhav. The bowler's name is Jasprit Bumrah, a man who has won games for India all over the world. People fall sick at the sight of his bowling, and this fellow hits him for a six off his very first delivery," Ashwin said on YouTube.
“You can't vote yet, can't drive a car—not even a moped. If you're on a cycle, your dad still has to keep watch. And despite that, you take Bumrah for a maximum and then repeat it on his slower delivery,” he added.
Kumble lauded Rajasthan Royals' batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's fearless approach against India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in a win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in a rain-curtailed IPL 2026 clash, saying the teenager "makes it look easy against one of the world's best bowlers."
RR rode on an explosive 80-run opening stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi' to beat MI by 27 runs in a rain-curtailed match at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday and registered their third straight victory of the IPL 2026 campaign.
Jaiswal began the innings with a bang as he hit Deepak Chahar for four boundaries and a maximum to extract 22 runs off the very first over. Sooryavanshi then welcomed Bumrah to the attack by dispatching the ball over mid-on. Two balls later, the ball disappeared over deep square leg as the hosts posted a daunting 150.
Kumble singled out Sooryavanshi's audacious strokeplay in the powerplay and his calculated assault on Bumrah, as a defining moment in the match.
"Sooryavanshi makes it look easy against one of the world's best bowlers. First ball, he hits him for a six and then sets him up. He set the bowler up, not the other way around. We've generally seen Bumrah set up batters so many times, but here, Sooryavanshi set Bumrah up to bowl that slower ball on the third delivery, and he was waiting for it to hit him for another six,” Kumble told JioStar.
"It was brilliant batting by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, just the way he strikes the ball and the consistency he has shown in terms of strike-rate. He is striking at close to 300 in every game and scoring more than 30 runs consistently, which is outstanding,” he added.
(With IANS inputs)
Ravichandran Ashwin
Rajasthan Royals
Mumbai Indians