"Instilled Fear": Dale Steyn's Ultimate Verdict On Vaibhav Sooryavanshi After Heroics Against Jasprit Bumrah

Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn believes that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already begun to create a psychological edge over bowlers, even forcing the likes of Jasprit Bumrah into rare errors. Steyn pointed to the moment when Sooryavanshi launched Bumrah over mid-on off the very first ball in the Rajasthan Royals clash against the Mumbai Indians on Tuesday, suggesting that the youngster's aggressive reputation is already influencing how bowlers approach him.

“I think that's what he's done. I mean, honestly, he's created and instilled the fear into bowlers that he's going to hit you for boundaries,” Steyn told ESPNCricinfo.

Highlighting the influence of Sooryavanshi, Steyn added that even the premier Indian pacer, Bumrah, appeared to be second-guessing himself and missed his mark, which is very rare for a bowler of his calibre.

“That delivery from Bumrah, that's in the slot. That's so rare of Bumrah. So even the great Bumrah is thinking in the back of his mind: ‘don't get it wrong, because if I get it wrong, this guy's going to hit me for six',” he said.

“I feel, if you think like that, more often than not, you do get it wrong. You can see even when he's hit him for six, he almost started to laugh afterwards and then go, ‘I knew that was going to happen if I got it wrong'. And that's exactly what happened,” he explained.

Steyn believes that Sooryavanshi is not scared of anyone, and his fearless intent makes him dangerous regardless of the bowler's stature.

“And this kid's not scared, man. If you miss a half-volley, he's going to hit you out of the ground. So drag your length back and hit a good length, and you might be on the money with him. Miss and you're travelling the distance. It doesn't matter who you are, Bumrah or Joe Average. So that's fantastic batting,” he added.

Speaking of the match, 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.

Vaibhav scored 39 runs off just 14 balls, which included two sixes against Bumrah and three vs other bowlers. While Jaiswal remained unbeaten at 77 off just 32 balls.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

Topics mentioned in this article

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Jasprit Bumrah Dale Steyn Rajasthan Royals Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 Cricket