Kagiso Rabada Praises Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s Fearless Knock in IPL 2026 Qualifier

"It's amazing what he is doing": Kagiso Rabada lauds Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Chandigarh, May 30

The 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a big knock of 96 runs, which helped RR set a 214-run target for GT in the second qualifier. But it was Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill's 167-run stand for the first wicket, which sealed the game for GT.

Speaking on JioHotstar, GT's Kagiso Rabada opened up on 'fearless prodigy' Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

"He just keeps amazing everyone who watches the game. He's got such fast hands, and he picks length quickly. He's got so much energy. When you're young, you have so much energy and no fear, and that's exactly what he's shown, no fear and just a natural instinct for the game that allows him to perform the way he is performing. At this stage, you throw age out of the window; it doesn't matter how old he is. It's amazing what he's doing," he said.

GT pacers got two early wickets in the match when Mohammed Siraj dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first over, and Rabada got rid of Dhruv Jurel in the second over.

Talking about his side's bowling plans to the RR openers, Rabada said, "The plan was to back our strengths, as we normally do, and hopefully get early wickets. We did get two early wickets, but then they fought back, and we missed our mark by bowling a few too many short balls, where we probably wanted to challenge them a bit more upfront. They got away from us a little, but we knew we weren't completely out of it because we knew we could still get wickets."

He added, "I think we had the game under control until the 19th over. It was pretty tough for Rashid to come on and bowl on this wicket as a spinner against some genuine power hitters. We probably felt that 180-190 was what we should have restricted them to, barring the dropped catch."

Rabada is the leading wicket-taker of this season with 28 wickets. He took a couple of wickets in Qualifier 2 and has been sensational throughout the season.

On his opening bowling partner, Mohammed Siraj, he said, "Siraj's my partner this season. We've just been trying to operate as a partnership. If he's putting pressure on from the other end, then hopefully I can do the same, and that's how we get wickets. Everyone knows him. He's got a lot of heart, and he's got a lot of skill too. What a bowler! It's lovely to be bowling with him. It just increases your chances of getting a wicket because someone at the other end is applying just as much pressure, if not more."

Now, the GT will try to win their second IPL title on Sunday as they face the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at their home venue in Ahmedabad.

— ANI