For the duration of IPL 2026, Kumar Sangakkara, who fulfilled the dual responsibility of head coach and Director of Cricket for Rajasthan Royals, had a ringside view of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s game. Having observed 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 reporters after RR’s defeat to Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2.

Sooryavanshi’s second IPL season ended with a mind-boggling tally of 776 runs. On Friday (May 29, 2026), 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.

Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bat against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League on Friday (May 29, 3036).

GT made one change and brought back R Sai Kishore, while RR are playing an unchanged XI.

Teams

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jogra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja.

Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.

“Mentally stressed and completely exhausted” after what has been a disastrous IPL, Mumbai Indians’ under-fire captain Hardik Pandya is set to quit the franchise and had conveyed this to the team management mid-season, a top tournament source told PTI on Friday (May 28, 2026).

The 32-year-old Pandya, who took over the leadership in 2024 replacing Rohit Sharma, informed the Mumbai Indians management about leaving the franchise weeks before the team’s disastrous IPL campaign ended.

Once the play-off hopes were dashed with quite a few games still left, it is learnt that both Pandya and MI reached an understanding on mutually parting ways.

“Hardik was mentally stressed and completely exhausted. He had also sustained a back injury. In fact, once the play-off hopes were dashed, Hardik informed the decision-makers that he wouldn’t be staying back,” an IPL source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“Please understand that Hardik is only 32. He returned to MI in 2024 when he was 30. He was booed in the first year and this season too things didn’t go according to plan,” the source added referring to the change of guard in which the hugely popular Rohit was replaced as captain.

MI Fans had repeatedly booed Pandya during the games in the past two seasons and the all-rounder, despite seeming visibly affected by the heckling, maintained that “it has been a difficult but entertaining journey”.

The IPL source said, his patience has finally run out.

“There is only so much that a young man can take. The last three years haven’t been easy for him. The MI dressing room that he had left in 2021 wasn’t the same when he returned in 2024. Not every senior player was on the same page.

“If results come despite divergent views, you still won’t feel frustrated. But when everyone pulls in different directions, after a point you don’t have the mental bandwidth to carry on. So, Hardik had decided mid-season that he wouldn’t be part of MI next season,” the source further said.

According to people privy to the developments, what hurt Pandya immensely was the fact that senior players, who demanded 100 per cent commitment when he played T20Is for India, were not exactly returning the favour when he was in-charge of the franchise.

It is, however, not clear whether Pandya is looking at a trade deal with another team or would prefer to enter the auction pool.

“One thing is for sure. He is done with MI. Closer to August, one might get some indication about what his next move will be.” For someone who feels mentally drained, Chennai Super Kings wouldn’t be a bad option in case of a trade.

MI’s next captain

Mumbai Indians will need to start with a clean slate ahead of the 2027 mega auction, but before that there is still another IPL edition to navigate.

It will be interesting to see whether MI opts for a short-term solution or focuses on the bigger picture.

For the short term, there is no better skipper than Rohit Sharma, their five-time IPL-winning captain and still the biggest name in that dressing room.

For transition, his protege Tilak Varma, who is also on the radar of the national selectors, could be appointed his deputy.

It is an open secret that the 2027 World Cup is Rohit’s final frontier and, therefore, the IPL could also be his final season in the franchise ecosystem.

But whether MI would be willing to take a step back remains the big question.

Otherwise, the best solution would be to make Tilak the new skipper and persist with him for at least three seasons while building a fresh squad around him.

New Chandigarh If Gujarat Titans relies on its core of consistent performers to win T20 matches, Rajasthan Royals’ hopes seem to ride primarily on the X-factor of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

It is perhaps a simplistic reading of the two franchises, but the neutral observer would certainly gravitate towards the latter simply because of the unadulterated thrill that Sooryavanshi’s stroke-making ability elicits.

When a query along these lines was put to Titans’ assistant coach Parthiv Patel on the eve of Qualifier 2, the former wicketkeeper-batter asserted that results vindicate the franchise’s approach.

“Every team has a different way of playing. We have been quite consistent about the way we go about our business. As long as we are getting results, we don’t have to think about whether we need an X-factor,” Parthiv said on Thursday.

“Other teams can think whatever they want to think. Even in the first half of the tournament, we were not doing great. But we still stuck to our process. We trust in our ability. If we execute our plans, we can win.”

Titans’ established template is facilitated by Sai Sudharsan’s voracious appetite for run-scoring at the top. He may not be as explosive as the young left-hander in the opposition, but Parthiv sees no need for the opener from Chennai to change tack.

“I don’t think there is any kind of temptation to tell Sai Sudharsan to go at a higher strike rate. If someone is striking at 300, it doesn’t mean that everyone has to,” said Parthiv.

In the IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 in Dharamshala on Tuesday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s plan of attack against Gujarat Titans was palpable at the outset. Shubman Gill & Co. appear at ease exhibiting a more traditional template of T20 cricket, but can get dragged out of their comfort zone when circumstances demand a breakneck tempo of scoring.

The RCB top-order attacked Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada — the pair has often bowled all six overs of the PowerPlay in tandem this season — in the quest to make Titans press the panic button. Skipper Rajat Patidar picked up the baton on the back of a blazing start as RCB amassed 254 for five and clinched a 92-run win.

Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi needs no second invitation to attack up front. When Royals face Titans at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Qualifier 2 on Friday, therefore, the 15-year-old’s duel against the pair of Siraj and Rabada will possibly take centre-stage in shaping the narrative in what is expected to be a sultry evening. The wunderkind from Bihar is a generational talent of the kind not seen before in T20s, and finds himself just 20 shy of taking his campaign tally to 700 runs.

If, and it is a big if, GT can eliminate Sooryavanshi’s threat early, RR will have concerns. While Yashasvi Jaiswal (426) and Dhruv Jurel (508) have also done well, there has been a noticeable drop-off from the middle-order. Even on Wednesday, after Sooryavanshi’s 97 and Jurel’s 50, Royals failed to capitalise in the latter stages of its innings. The onus is on skipper Riyan Parag in this regard.

Titans have similar frailties in their middle-order, but Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler embrace the heavy-lifting at the top. If Jofra Archer can find a way past the front three, like he did in the Eliminator on Wednesday, Royals will be in prime position to deliver the knockout punch.

Sunrisers Hyderabad has the pedigree of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head at the top of the order.

For Rajasthan Royals, the task of offering explosive starts with the willow falls on the pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. How these dynamic left-handed openers fare in tandem may go a long way towards deciding the outcome of the IPL 2026 Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in New Chandigarh on Wednesday (May 27, 2026).

“Both opening pairs are destructive in their own ways. We’ve obviously seen for a few years now the dynamic partnership that we have with Travis and Abhishek,” said SRH assistant coach James Franklin in the lead-up to the clash against Royals.

“And then there’s been the emergence of Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal for RR from the back end of last year’s IPL. As an opening partnership, they have been equally destructive. So I dare say both bowling line-ups have got their work cut out for them, but that makes the game exciting for everyone involved.”

Among these belligerent batters, Head has been a tad subdued by his usual standards. According to Franklin, however, there is no cause for concern.

“More than individual form or scores, we look at the partnership. We look at the way that he and Abhishek put pressure back on opposition bowlers,” the New Zealander explained.

“So tomorrow [Wednesday] is another opportunity for Travis and Abhishek to go and stamp their mark on the game. There is no doubt about Travis’ ability to play a match-winning role for us”.

In Rajasthan Royals’ run to the playoffs of IPL 2026, the middle-order has been its soft underbelly.

While the top three of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel have compiled more than 350 runs each, no other batter has even managed a tally of 300 runs in the tournament’s 19th edition.

All-rounder Dasun Shanaka, who has played five games this season, said that the middle-order batters need to take a bit of time to assess the situation at hand.

“Most times, the top-order has done the job. It’s about handling different situations. Following the top-order batters, who are playing at a high strike-rate, there is pressure. The batters in the middle-order need to take a bit of time to establish themselves. As someone who has played a lot of cricket there, I feel we need to stay in longer. That’s the key to success in these tough situations,” the 34-year-old Sri Lankan said on Tuesday (May 26, 2026), on the eve of RR’s Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad here.

Going into the season, RR’s decision to appoint Riyan Parag as skipper faced some flak. Asked for his view on how the 24-year-old had fared in his maiden season as full-time captain, Shanaka said: “Parag sticks to his decisions. That’s what is important. Many people criticise, but I see him as a great leader in the making. I am also a guy who likes to learn from different people. I am also learning from him. Obviously, I am passing messages to him as well, which is really important.”

Fearless, attacking cricket isn’t just a throwaway expression for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals. It is embedded in their philosophies on the pitch, and has been central to much of their success in IPL 2026. The tension of a high-stakes Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium on Wednesday, the winner of which will advance to Qualifier 2 at the same venue, complicates the execution of an unfettered approach, but both these teams have built up to this moment to revel on occasions like these.

For Sunrisers, the no-holds-barred aggression with the bat has been shaped by the top four of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. Head may not have had his most productive campaign this year, but the performances of the other three have compensated adequately. With Klaasen, Kishan and Abhishek among the top 10 run-getters at the end of the league phase, SRH has been able to amass a total 200 or more as many as nine times, the joint-most alongside Punjab Kings this season. For Klaasen to have racked up 606 runs in the middle-order deserves special praise.

Such firepower, however, won’t faze the rival camp. No situation, not even facing the peerless Jasprit Bumrah, has overawed particularly opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in a fledgling IPL career that took flight a year ago. If the precocious teen grabs the spotlight in his maiden knockout game in the league, he will be adding another feather to an already-ornate cap. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel have played solid supporting roles.

On a surface expected to yield plenty of runs, the bowling attacks will have to do their bit. For SRH, the pace quartet of Pat Cummins, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge has found a method to curtail the madness. In RR’s case, Jofra Archer has had to largely carry the load.

The many subplots should make for a box-office encounter.