4 min readMullanpurUpdated: May 28, 2026 07:48 PM IST
While IPL sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi missed the chance to break Chris Gayle’s record of fastest IPL hundred during his 29-ball knock of 97 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator at Mullanpur on Wednesday night, the Rajasthan Royals teenage batter now sits at the top of the leading run-scorers in this IPL with his tally of 680 runs in 15 matches. The 15-year-old’s strike rate of 242.85 makes him the first batsman to score 600-plus runs in a tournament in T20 cricket with a strike rate of 200 or more bettering Rilee Rossouw’s record strike rate of 192.28 during the 2022 T20 Blast. With Shubman Gill led Gujarat Titans facing the Royals in the Eliminator on Friday at Mullanpur, the Gujarat side would hope to end Sooryavanshi’s stay at the crease early in the innings. Titans’ assistant and batting coach Parthiv Patel shared how Sooryavanshi has been a phenomenal talent and how his team would target to get him out at the start.
“It felt good to see the way he is batting. Hopefully, we will try to get him out at the start and like all the other teams have planned, like that we have seen his videos and hopefully we will be able to execute our plans against him. The last time I had said that we should be talking about his age. That’s something we need to put an end to. He has been a phenomenal talent the way he is playing, it’s great to see. From an opposition’s point of view, our point of view would be he does not get any tomorrow,” shared Patel while addressing the pre-match press conference.
While Sooryavanshi leads the batting charts this season, Titans’ opener Sai Sudharsan sits at the second spot in the highest run-scorer list this season. The 24-year-old has so far scored 652 runs at a strike rate of 157.86 and an average of 46.87 in 15 matches this season. When asked whether there is a temptation to ask Sudharshan to bat with a higher strike rate, Patel replied in negative and shared how the young batsman has been doing the job for the team.”No, I don’t think there is any kind of temptation to tell Sai Sudarshan to do it at a higher strike rate. He has been very effective and he has been scoring at a fair strike rate also. It’s not that he is scoring under 100. If someone is scoring near 300, it does not mean that everyone has to bat at the same strike rate. But he has been very effective and giving us results. So there is no talk about telling Sai Sudharshan that you need to go higher in terms of strike rate,” added Patel.
Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has taken 19 wickets in 15 matches for the team this season at an average of 23.47. Khan sits at the sixth spot in the leading wicket-takers list this IPL with Titans’ pacer Kasigo Rabada sitting at the second spot with 26 wickets in 15 matches. Khan had come into the tournament after taking a break from cricket for three months to spend time on his fitness and back rehabilitation. When asked about Khan’s bowling form for the team in IPL this season, Patel shared how the Afghanistan spinner wants to bowl in difficult conditions.“Obviously, Rashid does not need any kind of introduction with the kind of bowler he has been. We know he has had a tough season because he was coming after an injury, But after that, he has been bowling consistently and has been working really hard. We know the kind of bowler he is and how hungry he is to contribute. He always wants to bowl in those difficult situations. And that’s the reason why he has been bowling well. Like I said, there is no question of Rashid’s skillset at all. We have full trust in him and that’s the reason that he is part of the Gujarat Titans’ set-up for a long time,” said Patel.
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