“Amazing to see a 16 years old boy…..”, Hardik Pandya praises young prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 

Guwahati : Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians by 27 runs, in match 13 of IPL 2026 at Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati, in a 11 overs encounter, where Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a destructive innings of 39 (14), leaving Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya to praise his carnage.

The clash between 2 heavy weights was reduced to 11 overs due to rain. Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya elected to field first and they fell prey to young destructive duo of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

On one hand, Jaiswal scored 77*(32), on other end, 16 years old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed an aggressive 39(14) including 5 sixes and 1 boundary, displaying brute force. A much awaited contest in the game – Sooryavanshi vs premium pacer Jasprit Bumrah – where the teenage sensation clinched the battle, wasting no time and smashing Bumrah for 2 big sixes. Sooryavanshi entered the match on back of 2 consecutive half centuries against Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans.

All these shifted whole momentum towards Royals, and they posted mammoth 150 runs in 11 overs, in response of which , Mumbai could only manage 123-9, losing by 27 runs.

Post match, Pandya praised Vaibhav for his sensational knock.

“It’s quite fascinating to see a 17 or a 16-year-old boy playing the way he played,” Pandya said after the game. “At the same time, we discussed so much about him in our preparation. Still, the way he bats — the kind of fearlessness he has, the kind of shots he plays — it’s amazing to see. I wish him absolute good luck for the future.”

Pandya admitted that the opening duo of Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi effectively “threw Mumbai out of the game” in the powerplay itself.

Despite the batting brilliance on display, Pandya pointed to his team’s bowling as the primary reason behind the defeat. “We did not execute the deliveries we were supposed to, and they played well,” he said. “In a shortened game like this, bowlers need to take more responsibility. As a bowling group, we were not at all up to the mark.”

He added that the outcome could have been different with better discipline. “T20 cricket is about bowling the right couple of balls. If we had executed those, we would have been in the game. I would not put this on the batting — this was definitely on the bowling unit.”

Looking ahead, Pandya remained optimistic despite Mumbai’s inconsistent start to the season. “Just learn from the mistakes. The morning will come tomorrow, the sun will rise,” he said, referring to their upcoming clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. “We need to prepare well and come back stronger.”

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals under young skipper Riyan Parag registered hattrick of wins in IPL 2026 and are currently sitting at top of points table with 6 points and +2.40 run rate in 3 games.