Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime talent after IPL blitz

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime talent after IPL blitzCricket greats, writers and broadcasters hail 15-year-old Rajasthan Royal opener after his 29-ball 97 in IPL playoffs.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been termed a ⁠⁠generational talent after the Rajasthan Royals teenager smashed 97 off 29 balls to power his side to victory in their Indian ⁠⁠Premier League eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad.The 15-year-old also broke Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in an IPL season on Wednesday, taking his tally to 65 in the ⁠⁠match and surpassing the former West Indies captain’s 59 set in 2012.Sooryavanshi’s performance helped Rajasthan secure a 47-run win that kept their hopes of reaching the final alive.Rajasthan will play Gujarat Titans ‌‌in ‌‌the second qualifier on Friday, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Hyderabad assistant coach James Franklin said the teen batter’s potential was frightening.“I don’t think anyone’s ‌‌ever seen a talent like this. It’s freakish what he’s doing at the moment,” he told reporters. “To think that he’s potentially got 25 years left in his career, it’s quite scary.“He’s only going to get better, stronger and more mature with how he bats. So, it’s just devastating at the moment.”Sooryavanshi plays a shot [Punit Paranjpe/AFP]“There’s a very small margin where you could bowl to him,” Franklin said. “He’s an amazing talent that he can start playing around with it [bowling variations] and then start ‌‌to cause the bowlers to have to go to other places, which tend to then go back into his strength.”The season’s leading run-scorer struck 12 sixes ⁠⁠in his innings, including three in a row ⁠⁠off Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins, but fell short of Gayle’s mark for the fastest IPL century off 30 balls.