Rajasthan Royals young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was on song during the side’s first match of the IPL 2026 against Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati on Monday. After the bowlers rattled the Super Kings to bundle them out for 127, the Royals’ batters and especially Sooryavanshi took the charge and chased down the target by 8 wickets and in just over 12 overs.
Sooryavanshi struck a quick-fire 52 off 17 that included five maximums and four fours.
New skipper Riyan Parag has lavished praise on the young batter and has assured him that he will be playing 14 matches in the league in this season.
“What I tell him is that you’re going to play 14 games and regardless of what goes on in the game, it shouldn’t bother you. What goes around in the media shouldn’t bother you. You just go out there. He loves to bat. I’ve made sure I’ve told the coaches that he gets as much batting as he wants. And he goes and does some things like that,” Riyan Parag said in the post-match presentation.
“I think me and Dhruv, when we were sitting there till the fourth over, we were just in awe. Like, what is happening? Like, how is he doing this? But then I’m really happy to have him in my team,” he added.
RR’s Chase
Rajasthan Royals’ openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi provided a perfect start to the run chase as the two left-handed batters posted 75 in just 6.2 overs. Sooryavanshi departed in the 7th over eventually while Jaiswal continued his goo form chipping in with 38* off 36.
Dhruv Jurel who came in at number three scored 18 off 9 before he was undone by Anshul Kamboj. Jaiswal was then joined by Riyan Parag and the two players made sure that there were no more fall of wickets and took the side home. Parag remained unbeaten at 14 off 11.
Kamboj picked up both the wickets for 27 runs in three overs. Earlier, the Royals’ bowlers didn’t let the opposition take control and picked up wickets at regular intervals to reduce them to 74/7 before bowling CSK out for 127. Jamie Overton top-scored with 43 off 36 but didn’t really get any support from the other end. Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets each for the side.
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