Vaibhav Sooryavanshi vs Sai Sudharsan: IPL Salary, Career, Runs And More
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sai Sudharsan are among the best openers in IPL. Sooryavanshi has made a name for himself in his short career while Sudharsan has been scoring consistently since his IPL debut in 2022. Here, we compare their IPL salaries, careers, runs and more.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sai Sudharsan will be among the most-followed openers throughout IPL 2026. Sooryavanshi has made a name for himself with his quick batting and the fans want him to play for India as soon as the ongoing IPL season ends. Should Sooryavanshi, 15, be fast-tracked to the national team, he will become the youngest to play international cricket for India. Sudharsan isn't as quick as Sooryavanshi, but he doesn't let the scoring rate go down. He mostly plays risk-free cricket and relies more on finding the gaps. Sudharsan won the Orange Cap in IPL 2025.
Despite scoring the most runs in the season, Sudharsan wasn't in contention to make his T20I comeback. He hasn't played a T20I for the Men in Blue since July 2024.
While Sooryavanshi's strike rate gives him an edge over Sudharsan, the latter's consistency can't be ignored. As the duo compete with each other and the rest of the openers, here we have a look at their IPL salaries, careers and more -
Breaking It Down
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Sai Sudharsan joined GT in the IPL 2022 mega-auction for Rs 20 lakh. He scored 145 runs in 5 games. Sudharsan breached the 300-run mark in only 8 games he played in IPL 2023 and scored 362 runs. He had a memorable season in 2024 and piled up 527 runs in 12 games. He made his T20 debut after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
GT retained the consistent opener for Rs 8.5 crore before the IPL 2025 mega-auction. He repaid the faith shown by the team management and breached the 750-run mark in IPL 2025 to win the Orange Cap. He hit a century and six half-centuries. Batting with a strike rate of 156.17, Sudharsan hit 88 fours and 21 sixes in the season.
Sudharsan, who continues to earn a salary of Rs 8.5 crore in IPL, has played six Tests, 3 ODIs and a T20I. He is only part of the Test team at present and is likely to keep his spot for the one-off game against Afghanistan in June. He has 1879 runs in 42 IPL games.
Sooryavanshi is the most-talked-about junior player at the moment. He shot to the limelight while playing junior cricket and has quickly adapted to senior cricket.
Following a mantra of hitting big shots right from the first ball, Sooryavanshi never misses an opportunity to send the ball outside the boundary rope. In IPL 2025, Sooryavanshi became the youngest to score an IPL century. He slammed a 35-ball ton against GT.
Sooryavanshi joined RR in the IPL 2025 mega-auction for Rs 1.10 crore and there has been no stopping him since then. From domestic cricket to U-19 cricket, Sooryavanshi has piled up heaps of runs at every level and he looks ready to play at least T20I cricket for India.
Sooryavanshi, who continues to earn Rs 1.10 crore in IPL, could pip Sudharsan for a place in the T20I team if the selectors have to choose between one of them. For now, there is no vacant spot in the T20I squad and both of them will have to wait for their opportunities. Sooryavanshi has scored 335 runs in 9 IPL matches.
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