The first six overs and the last five. Is that what the IPL is about? When one-day cricket (50 overs) was threatening to take over the sport, attracting the crowds and the money and endangering the calendar, it had gone through a similar phase. First ten and last ten, television viewers told themselves, which meant they had 30 overs to attend to more pressing matters.

Did T20 grow out of this middle overs crisis? There is one significant difference, though. While in the longer format, it was a holding period to ensure there were wickets in hand for the final slog, T20 is all slog. It is about hitting fours and especially sixes, and there’s always someone down the order who can occasionally do this as well as the top guys do. The opener and the finisher share one aim.

This year’s tournament saw more sixes (1426) and fewer viewers. Perhaps there is a connection. The viewership data are from Broadcast Audience Research Council and concerns the first half of the tournament, but it is telling all the same.

Better balance

Even the six-addict might like to see better balance between bat and ball. Achieving this will be the tournament’s aim between now and the next edition. Or maybe not. So far administrators have been more keen on loading the dice in favour of the batter.

The format has one advantage, however. It can make new rules. The farther it moves away from the red ball game, the better it is for both. This column has been arguing for years that T20 and Test match cricket are different sports which just happen to use the same equipment.

Still, it is ironical that in a tournament where totals of over 200 (and once even 250) were casually chased down, the final was a tribute to the bowling. RCB restricted Gujarat Titans, having out-thought their opponents with consistent short-pitched bowling. They never looked in trouble thereafter. Virat Kohli was resplendent in reply, playing an innings worth losing sleep over, as millions did.

In Kagiso Rabada’s second over the sequence of 4,4,6,4 alone was worth the price of the television set. That six off one of the fastest deliveries of the night was enticed into going over the fence with the gentlest of persuasions, all wrist and bottom hand. Kohli didn’t even look up as if too shy to countenance such treatment of a great bowler. Rabada, the tournament’s most successful bowler was taken for 88 runs in all by Kohli in this year’s IPL, off just 37 deliveries. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the quiet warrior through the season. RCB owe him.

Gujarat Titans effectively lost the final in the first four overs after their prolific openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan were dismissed. This might sound like fixing the dots after the picture is complete, but it was clear only one team expected to win from there. The scoreboard pressure so favoured by commentators was on the side which had batted first.

Some years ago, Kohli would have managed the chase differently, anchoring the innings without taking risks. But this new Kohli has internalised the tactical changes in the format which calls for only one gear – the top one. Two hundred is the key figure, whether as a fighting total or a batter’s strike rate. GT fell well short of the first while Kohli got to his half century at that rate.

Look into the future

Two events might have given us a peep into the future. The tacky ‘entertainment’ between innings and the referral to AI by commentators. Is AI getting ready to take over from them? May not be a bad idea considering some of the quality!

Has the IPL has become too predictable, the six-hitting too frequent for its own good? No sport played only for the aficionado can survive. Fans unbothered by nuance and untouched by a wider range of skills ensure success.

So will the cricket board decide that preparing less than perfect batting pitches, and fiddling with the rules come under the category of killing the golden goose? The balance it usually looks for is in the balance sheet.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi blew the IPL 2026 away with his record-breaking strokeplay, but the 15-year-old batting sensation says he also has learnt to shift gears according to the game situation, remaining calm under pressure, and working on his fitness to remain injury-free.

While his team Rajasthan Royals failed to make the final after losing to eventual runners-up Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2, the left-handed batter was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Sooryavanshi topped the batting chart with 776 runs from 16 innings at an average of 48.50 and a stunning strike rate of 237.30, hitting one century and five fifties to win the Orange Cap.

“This season, I learnt how to play in pressure games, (and) how to change your game,” said the 15-year-old after collecting his award after the final here on Sunday.

“You cannot play every game in one mode. You will have to read the situation of the game and play according to the requirements of the team. I got to learn this a lot in the playoff games too.” Sooryavanshi surpassed West Indian Chris Gayle’s previous IPL record of maximum number of sixes (59) in a season, as he smashed 72 maximums in IPL 2026.

“Yes, I just try to back my game and if I feel that I can hit this ball, then I go all out and try to play like that,” he said.

Sooryavanshi, who missed the fastest century in IPL history by one ball, said he will have to focus on his fitness.

“I want to play for a long time, and I will have to work on my fitness and focus on it.” He said Rajasthan Royals team has been very supportive of him.

“Everyone is very supportive and everyone there backs me, all the senior players and the supporting staff back me a lot. I get to learn a lot because everyone is a senior player, they play at a very good level, so the environment is very good.”

Kapil Dev throws a quick glance at the bat and ball placed at the entrance of the Madras Management Association’s auditorium. They are a photo prop — for the members attending the launch of popular banker Shyam Srinivasan’s latest book, Better Never Stops, a part-memoir, part-practical leadership primer published by WYZR Books (Rs 495).

If not for the teeming autograph hunters and selfie seekers, Kapil might have been tempted to bowl a couple of yorkers or smash a few sixes.

The 67-year-old lanky cricketing legend has seen the highest of highs in the sport; the 1983 World Cup win being the peak. He is currently associated with another sport — golf — which he plays passionately.

Deep down, Kapil remains the boy who once loved hitting the grounds of Chandigarh with a bat and ball in hand.

“People like us… we know only thing: how to play. If we had it our way, we would be playing some kind of sport from childhood till death,” he says, “When we are born, our parents give us a bat and ball to play something, but once we turn six or seven, they take it back and replace it with a pencil to concentrate on education.”

A huge cheerleader for sporting activities, Kapil is peeved about India’s obsession with cricket. “I’m saying this despite being a cricketer myself and fully knowing the love and affection it fetched me,” he smiles, “As a nation, we give 99% to cricket. It’s unfair. Other sports should also get recognition…only then will the nation grow.”

The show goes on

Kapil is a content sportsman today, even as he speaks words of motivation at corporate events and sporting functions. When he is not travelling or playing golf, he enjoys watching movies.

“I grew up watching Amitabh Bachchan saab’s films and styling myself on his looks in the films,” recalls Kapil. Today, thanks to technology and the advent of OTT platforms, Kapil likes catching up on the dubbed versions of South Indian superhits too. “Baahubali was great, and I love watching Allu Arjun’s films too,” says Kapil, mimicking the trademark Pushpa beard-stroke swagger, “They make some people larger than life, but that’s how cinema works in this part of the world.”

Cricket, however, is never entirely out of his system — despite his own admission that he watches only “5% of the matches today”. Like most followers of IPL 2026, Kapil too is full of praise for young sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. “At the moment, he is a special talent, without doubt. But we have to give him time. He is very young and does not know anything other than cricket. Once he gets to know more about life, things might be different.”

Blast from the past

Kapil can be credited for the obsession India has with cricket today. Leading India, the historic World Cup win in 1983 is considered the greatest triumph of the underdog that cricket has ever seen, heralding a young generation of Indian cricket players and enthusiasts. Apart from instilling self belief in the team, Kapil’s crucial batting knock when they were on the verge of elimination (175 against Zimbabwe) and iconic catch (to dismiss Viv Richards in the final) remains the highlight of his glittering career.

So, what was he telling himself when the chips were down? “It’s a story other people will tell better than me,” he says, “When you are in it, you don’t remember it as vividly as people watching it. It was my day, and I’m happy that I won the tournament for India.”

Is there a life lesson he has for people? “Never ever give up. The moment you give up, you are dead.”

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.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi surpassed West Indies legend Chris Gayle for most sixes in a single Indian Premier League (IPL) edition and in a T20 tournament.

Sooryavanshi achieved this milestone during his side’s IPL eliminator match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), slamming a stormy 97 in just 29 balls, with five fours and 12 massive sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 334.48.

Sooryavanshi has smashed 65 sixes so far in the ongoing IPL season, outdoing Gayle’s tally of 59 sixes in the 2012 edition.

Sooryavanshi has also levelled with Gayle for most instances of hitting 10-plus sixes in an IPL innings, a total of four times. Three of these occasions have come this season, making him the first batter to hit 10-plus sixes in three IPL innings in a season.

The 15-year-old’s take down of cricket legends one by one continues as he also surpassed Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya’s tally of seven powerplay sixes during the IPL 2008 clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with eight sixes in the powerplay at Mullanpur.

Sooryavanshi is the batter with the most runs coming in the powerplay during an IPL season, with 490 runs, overtaking Australian legend David Warner, who scored 467 runs for SRH in the 2016 edition.

This is also his fifth fifty-plus score in the power play in IPL, with only Warner (six such scores) ahead of him.

He has also joined Suresh Raina (87 against Punjab Kings in 2014) and Adam Gilchrist (74 against Delhi Daredevils in 2009) for fifty-plus scores made during powerplay in an IPL knockout/playoff match.

This is Sooryavanshi’s fifth fifty in less than 20 balls, with only Abhishek Sharma (six) above him.

Sooryavanshi establishes new IPL playoff records

The 15-year-old’s 16-ball half-century tied with Raina’s 16-ball fifty (against PBKS in 2014) for the joint-fastest fifty in an IPL knockout/playoff match.

Twelve sixes smashed by him are also the most in an innings by a batter in IPL knockouts/playoffs, outdoing Shubman Gill’s 10 sixes against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2023. Sooryavanshi has the most sixes in an IPL inning by an Indian as well.

Ninety-seven runs by Sooryavanshi is the second-highest individual score for RR in an IPL knockouts/Playoffs game, behind 106* runs by Jos Buttler against RCB in the qualifier 2 of IPL 2022.

A generational IPL season

In this season, Sooryavanshi has smashed 680 runs in 15 innings at an average of 45.33 and a strike rate of 242.85, including a century and four fifties, with a best score of 103. He has smashed 55 fours and 65 sixes in 280 balls faced. His balls per boundary shot ratio is 2.3, and balls per six ratio is 4.3.

This is the most runs an uncapped batter has scored in an IPL season, overtaking his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal’s tally of 625 runs in the 2023 season. Also, he is the youngest to complete 600 runs in an IPL season.

Before the left-handed sensation arrived to the scene, no other batter in T20 history had smashed 600+ runs in a T20 tournament while also striking at 200-plus.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hopes to score a double century in T20 cricket. When a 15-year-old says that, he would normally invite indulgent looks and tolerant smiles if not outright derision. But not this 15-year-old. If he bats through 20 overs, it might even come easily. Twice this season he has made a fifty in 15 balls, and against Sunrisers Hyderabad he reached a century in 36 balls. Now extrapolate.

Ironically, six-hitters like him (he already has 53 and at least one match remaining to overtake Chris Gayle’s IPL record of 59) might have tilted the balance between bat and ball too much in one direction to the detriment of the format. Already this season there has been a record 1349 sixes (as at the end of the league phase), and diminishing marginal utility has kicked in.

Sooryavanshi was born after the birth of the IPL, and so perhaps sees nothing extraordinary about the glut of sixes in a format that is about a glut of sixes. What makes him special is what has made all the best batters special — the ability to pick length early. Footwork, balance, bat speed, fitness, temperament are all secondary. Picking length is fundamental. Everything begins there.

If you pick length late, batting becomes all about survival. Batters don’t have the time to work everything out after the ball pitches. The decision about what to do looks spontaneous because batters are reading the cues from the bowler from wrist position to release point to seam angle and trajectory to pace through the air. The best look unhurried because they have decoded everything and the body has got into position early. Timing improves not because the hands are faster, but because preparation is.

Different formats magnify this skill in different ways. In Test cricket, early length recognition allows patience and control. In T20s, it enables anticipation and innovation: ramp shots, pick-up pulls, and premeditated movement all depend on reading length almost instantaneously. The earlier you know where the ball will land, the more options you have.

In many ways, batting is a race against uncertainty. The bowler’s job is to delay the batter’s recognition for as long as possible. The batter’s job is to solve the puzzle early enough so he can stay balanced and decisive.

Impressive temperament

Even in a tournament filled with world-class batters, if Sooryavanshi stands out, it has to do as much with his age and confidence as with his ability to meet the ball at any point in its bounce. There is too his impressive temperament. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has pointed out that Sooryavanshi drives the future of T20 cricket. His strike rate, 232, shows other openers the path that can be taken. He has stretched the limits of the possible.

Is he the finest 15-year-old to play cricket? Sachin Tendulkar was 16 when he hit Abdul Qadir for 27 runs in an over, with four sixes. That was in an exhibition game following a rain washout, but had he played T20 as a teenager, there’s no telling what records he might have set. He too had the ability to pick length early and strike with rare power.

It can be assumed with a degree of confidence that Sooryavanshi will be in the Indian team for the white ball tour of England in July. The bowling he has faced in the IPL is of a superior quality and has greater range than anything a single country can muster.

What will be interesting, and really get the national debate going is the possibility of Sooryavanshi making an early entry into Test cricket. There is a vast gap between T20 cricket and Tests. What Sooryavanshi has in is favour is the ability to read length early. But what of his defence? A batter with a sound defence can make the shift to limited-over formats more easily than a limited-over player can switch to five-day Tests. Suryakumar Yadav, world-class batter in T20 for instance, has managed just one Test, and might be a cautionary tale.

Sooryavanshi is in India A teams (red ball) where his progress will be keenly monitored. Meanwhile let us enjoy the sight of a 15-year-old carrying an IPL team on his shoulders. A boy among adults who might be destiny’s child.

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.