Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Photo Credit: IPL)

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan He heaped praise on teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi, saying he is instilling the same fear among young bowlers as the great T20 powerhouse. chris gayle Did it once during his prime years. Pathan also believes that Suryavanshi is now actually threatening Gayle’s long-standing IPL record of 59 sixes in a season.Rajasthan Royals The 15-year-old prodigy kept their IPL 2026 playoff hopes alive with a thrilling seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium thanks to another breathtaking innings from the 15-year-old prodigy. Chasing a tough target of 221, Suryavanshi scored 93 runs in just 38 balls at an astonishing strike rate of 244.74, which included seven fours and 10 skyscraper sixes.This explosive innings also helped him create history as the first Indian batsman to hit 50 sixes in a single IPL season.Earlier in the evening, LSG had posted a mammoth score of 220/5 after a strong opening partnership between Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis. Marsh scored 96 runs in 57 balls, while Inglis scored 60 runs in just 29 balls. Yashraj Punia emerged as the pick of the RR bowlers with figures of 2/35.During the chase, Yashasvi Jaiswal provided the early pace while Suryavanshi started cautiously, scoring only five runs from his first 10 balls. But once he settled in, Kishore completely took over the contest, scoring 24 runs in one over against Akash Singh and scoring a brilliant half-century in 23 balls.Speaking after the match, Pathan highlighted Suryavanshi’s maturity and improved range in his batting as the most impressive aspect of his innings.“It was incredible. The maturity he showed was the highlight for me. Whenever we watch Vaibhav Suryavanshi we always say he is a very good leg-side player, but the way he played on the off-side in this game was brilliant,” Pathan said on Geostar.“He has very good control over his back-lift. He was driving over cover and also playing upper-cuts over third man. It is very difficult to stop him,” he said.“In his first 10 balls, he was batting at a strike rate of less than 100 and by the end of the innings, he had scored 93 runs off just 38 balls,” Pathan said.After this, the former Indian all-rounder compared him with Chris Gayle and said that the bowlers have started feeling the same fear against Suryavanshi that they once felt against the West Indies icon.“With 53 sixes, he is actually going past Chris Gayle’s record of 59 sixes, which has stood since 2012. As bowlers, we were always scared of facing Chris Gayle. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is instilling the same fear, and Gayle’s record is definitely in danger,” Pathan concluded.