When Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was batting on 97 off 28 balls, the entire country was on its feet with their hearts in their mouths. Sooryavanshi was about to break Chris Gayle’s record for fastest fifty in IPL history. The Jamaican had hit it in just 30 balls 2013. But that did not happen. He was out for 97.
However, Sooryavanshi did break another long-standing record. One that had been standing for 14 years. He hit 12 sixes in his knock of 97 off just 29 balls and eventually reached 65 sixes, getting past Gayle’s record of 59 sixes that he hit in 2012 season.
While the boy from Bihar has hit 65 sixes, he has also smashed 51 fours. Similar to Gayle’s feat where he had hit 46 fours and 59 sixes. If RR manage to go ahead in IPL 2026, his tally is most likely to increase only.
What makes Sooryavanshi’s feat amazing?
What makes the feat even more staggering is the sheer contrast in physics and age: a young Indian domestic batsman matching, and then exceeding, the brutal bat-speed of a prime Caribbean heavyweight.
The Six-Hitting Leaderboard (Single IPL Season)
| Player | Team | Season | Total Sixes Smashed |
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | Rajasthan Royals | 2026 | 65 Sixes |
| Chris Gayle | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2012 | 59 Sixes |
| Chris Gayle | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2013 | 51 Sixes |
| Jos Buttler | Rajasthan Royals | 2022 | 45 Sixes |
The Indian Contrast: How Sooryavanshi Leaves Local Legends Behind
To truly contextualize what Sooryavanshi has accomplished, you have to look outside global imports and compare him directly to the greatest clearing-the-fence Indian legends the IPL has ever produced.
Historically, Indian batsmen have leaned into a template of placement, gaps, and late-acceleration. Even the country’s most explosive icons have rarely hovered near the 40-six benchmark in a single cycle, throwing Sooryavanshi’s outlier season into sharp relief:
1. The Comparison to Abhishek Sharma (2024)
Until recently, Abhishek Sharma’s 2024 campaign with Sunrisers Hyderabad was lauded as the most explosive single-season powerplay display by an Indian, where he registered 42 sixes. Abhishek relied heavily on a stationary base and swinging through the line. Sooryavanshi has comfortably blown past that number by manipulating fields and hitting sixes off both elite hard-length pace and mystery spin with equal nonchalance.
2. The Comparison to Shivam Dube (2023-2024)
Chennai Super Kings turned Shivam Dube into a designated spin-destroyer, where his peak yielded 35 sixes in 2023. While Dube’s range is famously restricted to long-on and deep mid-wicket due to his tall, linear frame, Sooryavanshi possesses a dynamic 360-degree hitting arc. He routinely lofts express pacers over extra cover and executes audacious sweeps over deep fine leg.
3. The Comparison to Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma’s highest single-season maximum count sits at 28 sixes (2015), while Virat Kohli’s historic 973-run season in 2016 featured 38 sixes. Sooryavanshi has effectively doubled the output of India’s senior statesmen, establishing himself not as a traditional accumulator, but as a specialized boundary-producing machine.