Vaibhav Suryavanshi eyes Test cricket after record IPL 2026 season

After a stellar TATA IPL 2026 campaign that earned him the Orange Cap and Most Valuable Player award, Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi reflected on achieving his 700-run target, lessons learnt during the season, and his dream of playing Test cricket.

Hyderabad: ‘Fearless Prodigy’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the Orange Cap winner, finished the TATA IPL 2026 season as the leading run-scorer and was also adjudged the Most Valuable Player, among several other accolades. Speaking on JioHotstar’s Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live, the Rajasthan Royals opener opened up about the lessons he learnt during the season, setting his goal of scoring 700 runs in the campaign, and his ambitions of playing Test cricket.

Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’, Vaibhav Suryavanshi reflected on winning multiple awards in the TATA IPL 2026 season.

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“It’s a great feeling to win all these awards. I got to learn a lot from this season. There has been a lot to take in, both on and off the field, and I know that if I want to play for a long time, I have to work on a few things. So, that will be my focus going forward, and I’ll look to do well in the upcoming matches. Before the season, I had written down in the Notes app on my phone that I wanted to score 700 runs in this IPL season. After every match, I used to check where I stood, so that was one goal I managed to achieve,” Vaibhav explained.

On his red-ball ambitions, Vaibhav said:

“I have practised a lot with the red ball, though not many people have seen me play that format. Hopefully, they will in the future. Everyone thinks, looking at my game, that I try to hit every ball. It’s T20 cricket, and the coaches have given me a free hand to go on the attack. So, if the ball is there to be hit, I will go for my shots.

“I don’t unnecessarily try to go after every ball. Of course, I want to play Test cricket. My father has taught me from day one to prepare for the longer format. He always told me that Test cricket is the purest form of cricket. I haven’t had many opportunities yet. I’ve played a few matches in the Ranji Trophy, and it was a bit tough for me. I know that I need to work even harder on my red-ball game,” he said.

On the important learning from the TATA IPL 2026 season, Vaibhav said: “One very important thing that I learnt was that you cannot bat the same way in every game. You have to adjust and make changes according to the opposition, the match situation, the conditions, and what the team needs from you at that particular moment. So, I tried to do that from the very first game. Usually, when I opened the innings, I wasn’t under much pressure.

“But there were a couple of games where I had to be a little more cautious and adapt my game according to the situation. There will be even tougher challenges at the next level, so I need to be ready for them and will continue working on that aspect,” he said.

On RR’s loss to GT in Qualifier 2, Vaibhav said: “I felt that we were 10-12 runs short in the last game. In the middle overs, I should have tried to keep the strike more because it wasn’t easy for a new batter to come in and get going, as the wicket wasn’t that flat.

“At that stage, I felt the new batters had the strike more often than they should have, and that was a mistake on my part,” he said.