Vaibhav Sooryavanshi reclaimed the Orange Cap race lead in IPL 2026 on May 19. The 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals batsman rose to the top of the list after scoring 93 runs from just 38 balls at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Rajasthan Royals win the match by 7 wickets and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Sooryavanshi was eighth on the run-scorers’ list before this game. But he shot past seven other players with his explosive batting to regain the lead. Mitchell Marsh of the Lucknow Super Giants had a brief lead with the Orange Cap in the first innings of the same game with his 96 runs. Sooryavanshi was quick to reply in the second innings and ended the night with a season total of 579 runs.
Rajasthan Royals Star Reclaims Top Spot with Blistering 93
The Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants played out a high-scoring thriller. Lucknow set a challenging target of 221 runs for Rajasthan to chase. Sooryavanshi started his innings slowly, only getting five runs off his first 10 balls.
Meanwhile, the conditions favoured the bowlers early on, but Sooryavanshi soon shifted gears. He scored 88 runs off the next 28 balls he faced. He hit 10 sixes during his time at the middle, making world-class fast bowlers look like beginners. Therefore, he reached his half-century in just 23 deliveries, which was actually his slowest fifty of the season.
By the end of his innings, 88 of his 93 runs had come from boundaries. Although he missed out on his third century of the season by just seven runs, the match was already won for Rajasthan. Sooryavanshi is on the top of the charts in most runs and holds the best strike rate of any player with over 500 runs this year.
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IPL 2026 Orange Cap Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Runs | Matches | Strike Rate |
| 1 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 579 | 13 | 236.32 |
| 2 | Mitchell Marsh | 563 | 13 | 163.18 |
| 3 | Heinrich Klaasen | 555 | 13 | 155.89 |
| 4 | Sai Sudharsan | 554 | 13 | 157.83 |
| 5 | Shubman Gill | 552 | 12 | 160.46 |
ALSO READ: Exploring The Legacy of All Orange Cap Winners in IPL History
A Season of Historical Milestones
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to reach 500 runs in Tata IPL. He broke the record previously held by Rishabh Pant, who achieved this feat at the age of 20 playing for the Delhi Daredevils in 2018.
Sooryavanshi became the first Indian batter to hit 50 sixes in an IPL campaign. He stood against Lucknow with 43 sixes and added 10 more to reach 53. He has now surpassed Abhishek Sharma’s record of 42 sixes in the 2024 season.
Adding more glorious chapters to the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi story in #TATAIPL 📚🙇#KhelBindaas | #RRvLSG | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/xuwlxfzMYb
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2026
He is second on the all-time list of most sixes in a season. No one has hit more besides the legendary Chris Gayle who hit 59 sixes in 2012. Rajasthan have at least one league match to play, Sooryavanshi now has a realistic chance to break Gayle’s all-time record.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen took the top of the Orange Cap leaderboard on Monday, May 18 after a blistering show against Chennai Super Kings. But his lead lasted just one day. Mitchell Marsh overtook Klaasen as the leading run-scorer in the first innings on Tuesday. Marsh scored 96 off 57 balls for the Lucknow Super Giants.
Despite Marsh’s great effort, Sooryavanshi’s reply in the second innings was even more powerful. He reclaimed the cap before the match ended. Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans duo Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill remain close behind in fourth and fifth place respectively.
Maturity Beyond His Years
Despite all the fame and the records, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi remains very humble. After the match in Jaipur, he said that he does not read the newspapers or focus on the hype. He believes that this is only the start of his journey in professional cricket.
An entertainer on the field and even off it 😄
That’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for you 😌
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/LvQzM3tl06 #TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #RRvLSG | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/XO3ZKPPJWb
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2026
He often wears a cap signed by India icon Virat Kohli. Kohli gave him the memento earlier this season with a note that said, “Dear Vaibhav, well done”. On Tuesday night, he had to swap that special cap for the Orange Cap during the post-match ceremony. His focus remains entirely on playing his natural game and helping his team win matches.
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