The Story Behind Vaibhav Suryavanshi's First Ball in the IPL: He Hit a Six; What Was the Conversation with Dravid and Samson? He Reveals All Now.

A galaxy of cricket stars gathered at the BCCI’s ‘Naman’ awards ceremony. Held in New Delhi on Sunday, the event saw numerous Indian players being felicitated, alongside various Indian teams that had emerged as champions over the past year or so. However, the talk of the town at this event was undoubtedly Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Commentator Harsha Bhogle hosted the ceremony and was seen interacting with several stars during one of the sessions. During this segment, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was also invited to the stage, where he recounted the story of his very first ball in the IPL. In fact, 14-year-old Vaibhav had made his debut in the league during the 2025 IPL season and had smashed a six off Shardul Thakur on his very first delivery.

What exactly happened in that match?

The 36th match of the IPL was played between the Rajasthan Royals and the Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Lucknow batted first and posted a total of 180 runs for the loss of five wickets in their allotted 20 overs. This marked Vaibhav’s IPL debut match. At the time, Sanju was with the RR squad, and Dravid was the team’s coach. Sanju was not part of the playing XI for this match, and Riyan Parag served as the captain. However, neither Dravid nor Sanju is currently associated with the RR team; Sanju has since been traded to CSK, while Dravid is not currently affiliated with any specific team. Chasing a target of 181 runs, Vaibhav and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings for Rajasthan, while Shardul Thakur spearheaded the bowling attack for Lucknow.

Yashasvi took the strike, and the first ball yielded no runs. On the second ball, Yashasvi struck a boundary (four runs). A single run was scored on the third ball. On the fourth ball, the strike shifted to Vaibhav, who lofted Shardul’s delivery over the covers for a six. This feat left both the Lucknow and Rajasthan camps utterly stunned; the expressions on everyone’s faces were truly priceless. In that match, Vaibhav scored 34 runs off just 20 balls, an innings studded with two fours and three sixes. However, the Rajasthan team ultimately managed to score only 178 runs for the loss of five wickets within their 20 overs. However, Vaibhav had already given a glimpse of his potential, and subsequently, he went on to set several records in this league. The record for the second-fastest century in the IPL stands to his name. He is the fastest Indian to score a century in the IPL.

Harsha Asks Vaibhav for the Story

Now, at the Naman Awards, Harsha asked Vaibhav about that specific delivery, inquiring, “Where did that first ball go?” Responding to this, Sanju—who was seated alongside Vaibhav—interjected, “Very far!” At this, Vaibhav burst into laughter. Hardik Pandya, Sanju, and Abhishek Sharma were seated on the stage alongside Vaibhav. Harsha then remarked, “Your coach is sitting right here. He himself used to bat for a day and a half at a stretch. What was the conversation you had with him regarding whether you would go out and hit a six off the very first ball?”

Vaibhav’s Story, Narrated by Sanju

Vaibhav then recounted, “Before the match, Sanju bhaiya and Sir Dravid called me into a room and asked what my plan was. I told them, ‘I don’t have a specific plan, but if the opportunity arises…’” At that moment, cutting Vaibhav off mid-sentence, Sanju said, “I apologize for interrupting, but I was actually present in that room and part of that conversation. So, I’d like to share exactly what happened. Dravid told me, ‘Sanju, we should call Vaibhav in and have a chat with him. He’s still just a kid, and we need to guide him on how to approach the game.’ When Vaibhav arrived, Dravid Sir asked him, ‘What’s the plan?’ To this, Vaibhav simply replied, ‘Nothing much, Sir; I’ll just go out there and play.’”

“He Thinks He’s Playing a Video Game!”

Sanju continued, “Dravid then asked Vaibhav again, ‘What is your game plan?’ Vaibhav replied, ‘If I get a ball to hit early on, I’m going to smash the very first one out of the park!’” (Sanju even mimicked Vaibhav’s accent while recounting this). Hearing this, everyone present—including Dravid—burst into laughter. Sanju added, “That is exactly how it went down. We just looked at each other and thought, ‘This guy is in a completely different zone; he thinks he’s playing a video game!’” However, true to his word, Vaibhav went out and did exactly what he had said he would do. Later on, he scored a century off just 35 balls—a feat that stands as a record. In doing so, he broke Yusuf Pathan’s record. Vaibhav recently played a pivotal role in leading India to victory in the Under-19 World Cup, scoring 175 runs off 80 balls—including 15 fours and 15 sixes—in the final against England.