IPL 2026 | 'Even great Bumrah was thinking' Steyn says Sooryvanshi, 15, has instilled fear in bowlers

IPL's 15-year-old batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lit up the greatest T20 league once again when he hit world's one of the current great bowlers Jasprit Bumrah for two sixes. Facing the pacer for the first time, Sooryavanshi didn't waste much time and hit the first ball he faced for a six over mid-on on Tuesday (Apr 7) during RR vs MI in the 11-over per side match in Guwahati. He took a single off next ball and hit Bumrah for another six on the next ball he faced one delivery later. The teenager scored 39 runs off 13 balls before being dismissed, hitting five sixes and one four, putting Mumbai on the backfoot for the rest of the match.

Steyn says 'even great Bumrah was thinking' when facing Sooryavanshi

Bumrah has been the pinnacle of bowlers for quite some time now in international cricket and seeing him getting torn apart by a 15-year-old was nothing short of a shock. Former South Africa bowler Dale Steyn was on point when he said Sooryavanshi's fearless batting even got 'great Bumrah' thinking.

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Also Read - WATCH – Sooryavanshi smashes Bumrah for 2 sixes in first-ever IPL face off

"He's created and instilled the fear into bowlers that he's going to hit you for boundaries," Steyn said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut. "That delivery (first ball to Sooryavanshi) from Bumrah. That's in the slot. That's so rare of Bumrah. So even the great Bumrah is thinking in the back of his mind: 'don't get it wrong; because if I get it wrong, this guy's going to hit me for six'."

MI skipper Pandya blames bowlers for loss

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Along with Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal had a great night as well, scoring 77 unbeaten of 32 balls. Together, the duo added 80 runs for the first wicket in five overs as RR scored 150/3 in 11 overs. Chasing the total, Mumbai's innings never got going and managed 123/9 in 11 overs, losing the match by 27 runs.

Skipper Pandya held nothing back after loss and put the responsibility on the bowlers, acknowledging: "We did not execute the deliveries we were supposed to. They (RR openers) played well. Bowlers need to take responsibility. As a bowling group, we were not up to the mark. They (RR openers) also played tremendously," after the game

"I would not put this game on the batting. Definitely the bowling unit which had to take responsibility. It is always about bowling those good balls. If we would have executed, we would have been in the game. Their openers threw us off our game and we were playing catch-up," he added.

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