Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is having one of the greatest seasons of all-time as the teenager enters the record books. He has not just got to a fifty off just 16 balls in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but has broken Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Most sixes in an IPL season
61* Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (2026)
59 Chris Gayle (2012)
52 Andre Russell (2019)
51 Chris Gayle (2013)
45 Jos Buttler (2022)
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener has also gone past 600 runs this season, becoming the youngest to amass this many runs in a single IPL season, beating the record previously held by Rishabh Pant in 2018. He needed eight sixes to beat Gayle’s record and he managed to get those in the powerplay.
Sooryavanshi’s 16-ball fifty today is also the fastest to the landmark in a IPL playoff fixture. Suresh Raina too had hit a 16-ball half-century against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2014.
Fastest fifties in IPL knockouts/Playoffs (by balls)
16 S Raina vs PBKS, Wankhede, 2014
16 V Sooryavanshi vs SRH, Mullanpur, 2026
17 A Gilchrist vs DC, Centurion, 2009
20 MS Dhoni vs MI, Bengaluru, 2012
21 Dwayne Smith vs CSK, Delhi, 2013
21 V Sehwag vs CSK, Wankhede, 2014
21 R Patidar vs GT, Dharamsala, 2026
RR got to 50 in just 3.2 overs, which is also the fastest in an IPL playoff match.
This is a crucial match in IPL 2026, as the winner will face Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2. The losing team will crash out of the tournament. In the league stages, SRH finished third on the points table, while RR ended up at fourth.
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