Vaibhav Suryavanshi (BCCI/IPL photo)

New Delhi: If the greatest innings of Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s record-breaking IPL 2026 campaign were to be ranked, his brilliant strike against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator would sit at the top. with Rajasthan Royals Facing a do-or-die contest, the 15-year-old batting sensation produced one of the most devastating innings in IPL history, scoring 97 runs off just 29 balls to take his team past Sunrisers Hyderabad and into Qualifier 2.Bihar-born Pratibha’s work was not yet complete. In Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans, Suryavanshi once again stole the show with a sensational 96. Although Rajasthan Royals ultimately lost by seven wickets and missed out on a place in the final, Kishore had already cemented his place as the standout performer of the tournament.During his stunning innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Suryavanshi hit 12 sixes, which surprised the players and fans. Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder was also among those who were surprised. liam livingstoneThe veteran of seven IPL seasons admitted that he had never seen anything like it.“I’ve never seen anything like it. And I’ve been there; this year was my seventh IPL. And I’ve played with and against some very good players, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Livingstone said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.The England all-rounder was particularly impressed by Suryavanshi’s ability to develop over the course of the tournament and find answers to every challenge thrown by the bowlers.“He’s just the way he hits a ball, he hits the ball very cleanly, yes. He never hits a ball the wrong way, never hits a ball the wrong way the whole time. And wherever the ball is, the first time we got him out with a bouncer, the first ball he hit it straight. But then the evolution he made as a player from the beginning to the end of that tournament was like this… We were bowling bouncers and he was hitting it over third man, and then you’d bowl this side, he’d hit it there; You bowled the full ball, he hit it there; Throw a low full toss, he will flick it there. And you’re like, ‘Okay, wait a minute, where are we going to bowl?'” Livingstone said.Suryavanshi’s statistics in IPL 2026 were nothing short of extraordinary. The left-handed batsman finished as the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 776 runs in 16 innings at a whopping strike rate of 237.30.He rewrote the record books by hitting 72 sixes during the season, breaking the previous IPL record of 59 sixes held by West Indies great Chris Gayle. His remarkable campaign included a century and five half-centuries, earning him both the Orange Cap and the Most Valuable Player award.