Kamal Ghorui
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, was dismissed for a golden duck as Rajasthan Royals lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 57 runs on Monday, with debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain making an impact.The teen prodigy has been the flavour of this season in the T20 tournament with two 15-ball fifties including in the previous match and key to Rajasthan’s four wins.However, he was outplayed in the game against SRH by pacer Hinge, 24, who took 4 wickets on his IPL debut.It was Sooryavanshi’s wicket that stunned Rajasthan as the in-form opener top-edged a rising delivery from Hinge with the ball going high and caught by wicketkeeper Salil Arora.Sooryavanshi looked up and walked back as Rajasthan’s chase began to slip further.
Sooryavanshi ‘not happy’
Sooryavanshi came in as an impact player in the second innings. For the second match in a row, Rajasthan Royals kept him out during the fielding innings and used him only as a batter. The decision has drawn attention, and it has now emerged that the player was not fully comfortable with it at first.During Hyderabad’s innings, Rajasthan Royals assistant coach Trevor Penny spoke about the call. He said Sooryavanshi was not pleased as he prefers to contribute in the field as well.“The last game he missed out on, he wasn’t very happy because he loves his fielding. It’s not because he’s a poor fielder,” Penny told the broadcaster during the IPL 2026 match between the Sunrisers and Royals, as cited by Hindustan Times.Penny added that the team combination changed after Donovan Ferreira recovered from injury, which meant Sooryavanshi had to be used as an impact player.“Donovan has passed his fitness test. He broke his collarbone in the SA20. He’s a gun fielder. It’s good to have him back on the field. Sadly, Vaibhav misses out,” he added.
