Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season may be over, but craze for young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi isn’t dying down. Former IPL chief Lalit Modi, during his recent interview with Wisden, said that a young batter is set to become a very big star. The former league boss also said that the southpaw will become the first batter to score 200 in T20 cricket.

In his chat with Wisden, Mr. Modi said, “Looking forward to the day that he (Vaibhav) scores a T20 double century. He will get to that mark, and that’s my promise. Just want to advise the youngster that money should not get into their head. He is destined to become the biggest star on this planet, bigger than any Hollywood or Bollywood superstar.”

Further advising the youngster, he said: “Sooryvanshi has to play with his heart and if that happens, he can very well beat Chris Gayle’s record.” The former West Indian star’s 175 not out for RCB during the IPL 2013 season is still the highest score by a batter in this format. During a recent YouTube show with Kevin Pietersen, the Rajasthan Royals batter said that he wanted to become the first batter to score a double ton in the format.

When asked about young players preferring franchise cricket over international cricket, he said, “Franchise cricket is the future. Youngsters aspire to play in the NBA rather than the American national side, or in football, youngsters want to play for their favourite clubs rather than the English football team.”

Former India skipper backs batting sensations’ call-up to T20I side

Kris Srikkanth is yet another name who has been advocating for the RR star’s inclusion in the national side in the T20 format. The 66-year-old speaking on his YouTube channel said, “The player has to be fast-tracked into the national side. This was his first full season, and he swept all the awards.”

It is to be noted that the young batter who scored 776 runs this IPL season also hit 72 sixes, which is the most by any batter in the league. Before the IPL 2026 season, the player had also scored a match-winning 175 in the Under-19 World Cup final against England earlier this year.