Top News

Matthew Hayden stated that the Rajasthan Royals youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi requires to bat for longer duration while chasing massive targets, following the defeat of Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans by 77 runs in IPL 2026.

The match was played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on 9 May, where Gujarat Titans put in an excellent all-round performance and amassed a humongous total of 229/4 before bowling out Rajasthan Royals for 152.

Post match, Hayden spoke about the top-order batters of the Gujarat Titans performing with remarkable consistency and mentioned the importance of playing longer innings in high-scoring matches.

Hayden expressed during the post-match press conference:

"Well, tonight was a good example, right, of an exciting young talent in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He batted, got 30 runs at a strike rate of 300. But when you're chasing 220 odd, you need to bat longer and deeper. So the advantage that we have is that we get players, like the top three that you mentioned, who are striking at 150. Let me tell you as a batter, that is really hard, and they're doing it for a long period of time, they're constantly getting into the back half of the game, not just batting inside the powerplay," 

Also Read | Chennai Super Kings Make Public Appeal Ahead Of IPL 2026 Fixture Vs LSG

Invited to bat by the Rajasthan Royals the Gujarat Titans were provided with a sensational start by openers Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill.

The duo put up 118 runs in just 11 overs for the opening wicket, totally dominating the RR attack. Both the batters scored fine half-centuries and continued to keep the scoreboard moving at a rapid pace throughout the powerplay and the middle-overs.

Despite Jos Buttler only scoring 13 runs off 10 deliveries Gujarat Titans went on to post a gigantic total of 229/4 in the allocated 20 overs.

Hayden lauded the team's approach towards their batting and remarked that constructing longer innings rather than relying on short cameo bursts, is the strength of GT.

Hayden added:

"They're going right through with their fitness and their ability to be able to really play Test match-type cricket, and ODI cricket in particular. So, I love the fact that we're going about constructing in innings. Tonight, where we're setting a target, which is a different challenge for us, we've had a number of totals in that sort of 160 range. Which I would back our batting to get through any day of the week, so it was nice tonight to have that bit of a challenge against an X factor team like Rajasthan Royals, and to come out on top was really important for us," 

To chase down 230, the Rajasthan Royals needed a flier and Sooryavanshi gave them exactly that as he smashed 36 off 16 deliveries to take the attack to the GT bowlers.

However, with the departure of Sooryavanshi, RR's run rate took a dip and the rest of the batters in the line-up couldn't make a comeback as the team was bundled out for 152.

Despite the loss, Sooryavanshi has had a stupendous IPL 2026 campaign as he has notched up 440 runs from 11 innings at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 236.56.

In the meanwhile, Gujarat Titans' top three batters have dominated this IPL 2026 season as Shubman Gill has piled on 462 runs from 10 innings and Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler have scored 440 and 348 runs respectively.