'I think that's what's unusual' - Alastair Cook points out unique aspect of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's power-hitting

Young prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has shaken the cricketing fraternity with his raw talent and sheer power-hitting ability at the age of fifteen. His sensational run of form in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 has left the legendary England batter Alastair Cook in awe of the Samastipur-born's young talent and stroke play as a T20 batter.

Cook took a key note out of Sooryavanshi's batting and observed that the latter is quite unique as a batter because he does not pre-empt the ball coming at him and hits it only when it actually arrives. The former cricketer also believes that the 15-year-old is unlike even the best hitters of the cricket ball, as he waits for the bowler to come at him, only to see it being smashed out of the park.

"I think the one thing about it is there doesn't seem to be any premeditation. Most batsmen, even the best hitters, are literally waiting for that ball to be in their one slot for six. They might have two slots. But with him, you bowl five balls, and he'll wait for a ball at 99 miles per hour, then react to it and still hit it for six. So cleanly. I think that's what's unusual," Alastair Cook said as quoted by NDTV Sports.

Sooryavanshi's IPL 2026 was one for the record books. His astonishing style of playing on the cricket field was so inspirational that the best of the cricket pundits lavished massive praises on him. Opening for RR in 16 matches, Sooryavanshi smashed 776 runs at an unworldly strike rate of 237.40, which also included a mind-boggling 72 sixes in the season.

With this amazing feat, Sooryavanshi claimed a plethora of awards and accolades at the end of the season, with the most notable ones being the Orange Cap for most runs, the Super Striker Award for the best strike rate, the Most Sixes award, the Emerging Player of the Season award, and the Most Valuable Player of the Season award.