"He's A Little Kid": R Ashwin Shattered By Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's Post-Match Emotional Visual
Ravichandran Ashwin was heartbroken to see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi get emotional after the Rajasthan Royals were eliminated from the IPL 2026.
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 96 runs in IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 yet Rajasthan Royals were eliminated
- Sooryavanshi became emotional as Gujarat Titans secured a 7-wicket win in the match
- Ravichandran Ashwin said he was heartbroken to see Sooryavanshi get emotional
All 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could do after Rajasthan Royals' elimination from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 was sulk. The teenage prodigy did everything he could, slamming a brilliant 96 to take his team past the 200-run mark. However, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan laid a strong foundation, helping their team chase down the target of 215 runs with eight balls to spare. Seeing his team knocked out, Sooryavanshi looked absolutely shattered. Witnessing him so low, even Ravichandran Ashwin was heartbroken.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin expressed how bad he felt for the Rajasthan Royals teenager after his team finished second-best in the IPL Qualifier 2 on Friday, especially after seeing the young opener give his absolute best on the field.
"If you looked at his face after the match, you could see the sheer disappointment written all over it. This 15-year-old boy is just a little kid, but in his mind, it is always about winning the game for his team," Ashwin said.
Ashwin, who has also played for the Rajasthan franchise in the past, remarked that Sooryavanshi's team never looked good enough. With the bat, the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira were the only ones to give Sooryavanshi any real support. If it had not been for the 15-year-old, the team would have probably ended up well short of a fighting total.
"To be honest, I'd say Rajasthan Royals were never in the game from start to finish. They were just not in the game. Yashasvi Jaiswal got out, Dhruv Jurel got out the way he did, Riyan Parag got out... Ravindra Jadeja provided a little bit of company, and Donovan Ferreira at the end. Look at Dasun Shanaka, he scored maybe three runs off nine balls, during which he left two balls alone. 'Well left' in a T20, would you believe it? And then a bouncer... I mean, alright. Then Jofra Archer came in at number six, Donovan Ferreira was there... nobody gave Sooryavanshi any support," said Ashwin, criticising the Rajasthan Royals' performance.
"Even so, he was the lone person standing between an RR defeat and a victory. He was fighting out there all by himself. And after the 10th over, he didn't even get the strike for two or three overs. Incredible, just incredible. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is incredible, that's all," he summed up, praising the prodigious batting talent.
Ravichandran Ashwin
Rajasthan Royals