Rajasthan Royals' 15-year-old opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dismissed for a blistering 97 off 29 balls in the IPL 2026 Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh on Wednesday, falling three runs short of what would have been the fastest century in IPL history.
Chris Gayle holds the record for the fastest IPL century, reaching the milestone in 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Pune Warriors India in 2013.
Also read: 15-yr-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breaks Chris Gayle's 14-year record for most sixes in one IPL season
Sooryavanshi surpassed Gayle's tally of 59 sixes, set during the 2012 IPL season, to become the holder of the record for the most sixes in a single IPL season. The record also makes him the batter with the most sixes in any single T20 tournament.
Before Sooryavanshi, only two batters had hit 50 or more sixes in a T20 tournament. Gayle did it twice, hitting 59 sixes in IPL 2012 and 51 in IPL 2013. Andre Russell hit 52 in IPL 2019.
Sooryavanshi entered the Eliminator with 53 sixes to his name in IPL 2026 and needed seven more to break the record. He hit a half-century off just 16 balls in the powerplay in what was a dominant display with the bat.
His strike rate of 232.27 this season is almost 13 per cent better than any other batter with 500 runs in a T20 tournament. He is also one of only three batters with 10 or more scores of 30-plus in IPL 2026.
Sooryavanshi struck 42 of his 53 pre-Eliminator sixes off fast bowlers, the most for any batter in an IPL season. Gayle and Russell each hit 40 sixes against pace in their respective record seasons.
