Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit five fifties and one century, including a 47-ball 96 in his last match in IPL 2026, ending his second season in the league with the orange cap until the final. | Photo Credit: R. V. Moorthy

For the duration of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Kumar Sangakkara, who fulfilled the dual responsibility of head coach and Director of Cricket for Rajasthan Royals, had a bird’s-eye view of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s game. Having watched the 15-year-old make another giant leap after the promise of his debut campaign in 2025, the former Sri Lanka skipper said Sooryavanshi was “more than ready” for an India call-up.

The cherubic southpaw’s next assignment is a 50-over tri-series for India-A in Sri Lanka from June 9 to 21. Once that concludes, there is an irresistible case for the teenager to be handed a senior T20I call-up. India has two T20Is against Ireland in Belfast on June 26 and 28, followed by a five-match series versus England from July 1 to 11.

“Yeah, I mean, you never know if anyone’s ready until they play. But with everything Vaibhav has shown against some of the best bowlers in the world, I think he’s more than ready to take on any challenge you throw at him. And I’m sure that he’ll get that call-up very, very soon. He’s batted with a lot of maturity,” Sangakkara told the media after RR’s defeat to Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on Friday.

Sooryavanshi’s second season ended with a mind-boggling tally of 776 runs. On Friday, the Titans attack came up with a concerted short-ball ploy led by the pair of Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada, but the youngster showed substance along with style in an innings of 96 off 47 balls.

“It was a much tougher innings with wickets falling around him. He reads the game really well, and he’s got no fear,” Sangakkara noted.

Royals’ exit in Qualifier 2 is a substantial improvement from their ninth-placed finish in the standings last season.

Over the years, the franchise’s youth-centric approach has perhaps allowed it to escape microscopic scrutiny for some middling performances, but Sangakkara was clear that he expected no such leeway with the current squad.

“In 2022, we made a conscious decision that we are going to change that and we’re going to get as many players that are ready to play now and win matches,” the 48-year-old stated.

“And that’s how we’ve done everything. Vaibhav is an outlier, but we bought him because we thought he was absolutely good enough to play in our first XI. We’ve changed our mindset completely away from the development angle for the last four years.”

If Sangakkara does have a lament at the end of a season where RR was one step away from the final, it seems to be the non-availability of Sam Curran for the entire season.

Before the commencement of the IPL in March, the franchise was informed that the England all-rounder was ruled out of the entire tournament, and thus decided to rope in Dasun Shanaka as a replacement. However, Curran has played three games for Surrey in the Vitality Blast T20 in the past week.

“We were told Curran had a season-ending injury, but I saw him playing for Surrey, so that was disappointing,” Sangakkara rued.

In this regard, the RR coach stressed the importance of the BCCI’s policy to deal with overseas players who pull out after being picked at the IPL auctions. Currently, such players are banned for two seasons unless there is an injury involved.

“A proper tight policy around that is always a requirement. The BCCI has a strict policy on that. Every person goes through injuries, and if it’s a serious, season-ending injury, we understand of course,” he said.

Published on May 30, 2026