English T20 record-holder Adam Lyth praises Indian prodigy
ADAM LYTH - holder of the highest score in English T20 - has hailed Indian sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Published 2nd Jun 2026, 20:00 BST
The Yorkshireman has joined the chorus of praise for the 15-year-old batsman wowing the world.
“I mean, what a talent,” said Lyth of his fellow left-handed opener. “I don’t know what I was doing at 15, but I certainly wasn’t getting hundreds off 30 balls, 40 balls, like he’s been doing.
“Even if he was 25, doing what he’s doing, it would be incredible enough. But 15? It’s unbelievable, to be honest. I think you could say that he’s got a bright future.”
Lyth, 38, has watched from afar as Sooryavanshi has lit up the Indian Premier League. The teenager was part of the Rajasthan Royals side that came within one win of reaching Sunday’s final, only to be beaten by Gujarat Titans in Friday’s qualifier, who went on to lose to Royal Challengers Bangaluru.
For Lyth, whose 161 against Northamptonshire at Headingley in 2017 remains the highest T20 innings on English soil, it is the distance that Sooryavanshi gets on his shots that is so remarkable, along with the fact that he is doing it against the world’s best bowlers. His sixes tend not to just clear the rope as make the boundaries look as if they were junior size.
As if to show that he plays the ball rather than the reputation, Sooryavanshi struck the first deliveries he received from Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins - two fast-bowling legends - for six.
“I’ve watched the odd game on TV and, yeah, it’s frightening,” added Lyth, whose 161 from 73 balls with seven sixes and 20 fours against Northamptonshire has been bettered only seven times across the globe in T20, with Chris Gayle’s unbeaten 175 in the 2013 IPL leading the list.
Sooryavanshi was just 13 when he was snapped up in the auction for the previous IPL and has proved that he is no flash-in-the-pan.
There were those who wondered if could repeat his exploits last year when he hit his first ball in the competition for six and hammered a 35-ball century in his third innings, but in the last few weeks he has raised the bar.
Sooryavanshi won the Orange Cap for finishing leading run-scorer in the tournament with 776, also winning the Most Valuable Player and Best Emerging Player awards. No one came close to his strike-rate of 237.30 or his tally of 79 sixes, another record.
“It is a proud moment and I will try and do well next season too," said Sooryavanshi after collecting his awards. "I try to back my game and if the ball is there to be hit, I go all out for it and just try to play that way.
“You can't play every game in one mode - you need to read the game situation and play according to the team's requirements; those are my learnings from this season. I also have to work on my fitness and have to focus more.”
In citing “focus”, perhaps Sooryavanshi was referring to the fact that he three times got out in the 90s in this year’s tournament.
After scoring a 36-ball hundred against Sunrisers Hyderabad halfway through the group stage, three of his last four innings were 93 against Lucknow Super Giants, 97 against Sunrisers again and then 96 in the defeat to Gujarat Titans.
Had he got slightly more elevation against Sunrisers when he holed out on the third man boundary, he would have had a 29-ball century that would have beaten Gayle’s 30-ball IPL record. His slow walk back to the dug-out each time he just missed out on three-figures betrayed his frustration with himself and the standards that he sets.
Interest is now focusing on whether Sooryavanshi’s exploits will see him called up to the full India team. He hopes one day to follow in the footsteps of the great Sachin Tendulkar, who is also full of admiration for what he is doing.
"Everyone is talking about Sooryavanshi,” said Tendulkar. “I watched him bat and it was magnificent. I mean, he is something truly special.
“And not just the ability to hit the ball, but what also fascinated me was the wrist work that he has. To be able to play in all directions of the ground, you need good wrist work, and he is not slogging the ball.
“He is just picking the line and length earlier than the rest of the guys and he is able to clear the rope comfortably.”
A reminder of Sooryavanshi’s tender years came at the end of the IPL.
He also won a car for his efforts - the only snag being he isn’t old enough to drive it.
Instead he will have to wait three years before he can slip behind the wheel of his Tata Sierra.
What he will have accomplished by then is anyone’s guess.