Australia captain Pat Cummins was one of many star bowlers who faced the wrath of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s bat during the recently-concluded IPL 2026. Cummins was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowling attack against which Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Sooryavanshi smashed the fastest century of the season, and later a spectacular 29-ball 97. Cummins has since made it clear that the margin of error in bowling to Sooryavanshi is miniscule, and has joked that he wishes the 15-year-old was still in school.
“He’s a talent. He hits the ball a long way, he hits very hard. Margins for error are very small. He’s a real talent, pretty tough to bowl to,” Cummins said on Sooryavanshi, speaking on Fox Cricket.
“Wishing he was in high school, so I didn’t have to bowl at him. It’s just incredible. Like, I don’t think I’ve seen batting like that, let alone from a 15-year-old kid. Whether he’s 30 or 15, he’s just a very good hitter of the ball,” Cummins added.
After missing the first half of IPL 2026, Cummins got a taste of Sooryavanshi-mania in his very first game back. Much like Jasprit Bumrah or compatriot Mitchell Starc, Cummins’ first ball to Sooryavanshi was also hammered for six. Sooryavanshi slammed a 36-ball hundred in that game.
Sooryavanshi was arguably even more devastating when SRH and RR faced off in the Eliminator of the IPL 2026 playoffs. He smashed 97 off 29 balls, narrowly missing out on registering the record for the fastest-ever IPL century.
On that night, Cummins went wicketless, getting hit for 64 runs in his four overs, at an economy-rate of 16. Sooryavanshi did the bulk of the early damage, guiding Rajasthan Royals to a total of 243 in 20 overs. Sunrisers were ultimately unable to chase it down, bringing the curtains on their IPL 2026 season.