Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan on Monday admitted that his theory regarding Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi wasn't wrong. On 10 April, Irfan Pathan had posted on "X", questioning if Vaibhav Soooryavanshi targets big bowlers on purpose.
Earlier in the ongoing season, the 15-year-old had hit Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Jasprit Bumrah for two sixes in five balls, and also punished Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Josh Hazlewood similarly, hitting him for 19 runs in just one over. This included three fours and one six in the over.
“Does Vaibhav target big bowlers purposely? I like to think so,” he had posted on "X". Pathan later termed it as "my theory".
Irfan Pathan clarifies his theory
On Monday, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dismissed by young bowler Praful Hinge for a golden duck, and responding to his dismissal, Irfan Pathan admitted that his theory was right. “So my theory for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi isn’t wrong,” the 41-year-old wrote.
Praful dismissed Vaibhav in the very first over of Rajasthan Royals' chase. It was a short length ball on middle and leg stump from Praful, and Vaibhav went for a pull shot. However, he was only able to find a top-edge towards Salil Arora, the wicketkeeper.
Praful took as many as three wickets in the first over, and followed it up with a fourth wicket in the fourth over of the run chase. He eventually finished with figures of 4/34 from four overs.
Vaibhav, 15, has been one of the standout performers in the IPL since the 2025 season. He finished the 2025 season with 252 runs from seven matches at a strike-rate of 206.55 (One fifty and one century).
He carried on that form into the ongoing season, slamming 52 runs from just 17 balls against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in RR's season opener.
He followed it up with scores of 31, 39 and 78 against Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru respectively. His golden duck dismissal against Sunrisers Hyderabad was a rare failure for him with the bat.
“The best one was the first wicket of Sooryavanshi, because he was in form. I had already told a couple of people that I would get him out on the very first ball, either with a bouncer or in some way. I just wanted his wicket on the first ball. That was the plan,” Praful, who was the Player of the Match, said at the presentation ceremony.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will next lock horns with Chennai Super Kings in Hyderabad on 18 April.
