Vaibhav Sooryavanshi stands frozen on pitch after missing fastest IPL century

Three runs. That's all that stood between Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and a moment that would have been played on loop for the next 50 years.

He had already broken Chris Gayle's record for the most sixes hit in an IPL season just minutes earlier. Then came the chase for an all-timer: the fastest IPL hundred, a record Gayle had carved out in just 30 balls, 13 years ago. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was right there. 97 off 28 deliveries. But he didn't get there, holing out to deep third man in the eighth over.

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Yes, Sooryavanshi smashed 97 off just 29 balls in the Eliminator, one of the most pressure-cooker situations in the IPL, dismantling a bowling attack led by Pat Cummins at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Wednesday, May 27.

He was 71 off 23 when the over began. The bowler was Praful Hinge, the man who had famously taken the 14-year-old's wicket in his very first IPL over, and hadn't been shy about it. This time, Sooryavanshi was in the mood to settle the score. He smashed three sixes and two boundaries, helped along by some wayward bowling from Hinge.

Racing to 97, Sooryavanshi wasn't prepared to leave the milestone for later. He went for an upper cut off a bouncer, hunting the hundred, but found the one man in the region, Smaran Ravichandran, and that was that.

He couldn't believe it. Nobody had looked capable of stopping him all evening. Even Cummins had appeared a cut below his best. And yet, Sooryavanshi had given it away himself.

The disbelief was written all over him. He stood rooted on the pitch for over ten seconds, trying to make sense of what had just happened — a hundred there for the taking, an all-time IPL record there for the taking.

Abhishek Sharma was first to reach him, jogging over and patting him on the back. Dhruv Jurel, walking in at No. 3, paused for a quiet word before taking guard.

Sooryavanshi looked inconsolable. The disappointment on his face said everything as he took the long walk back. The long walk felt longer than usual.

The Mullanpur crowd rose to their feet. The Rajasthan Royals dugout was up as one. But while the world celebrated the 97, Sooryavanshi was already mourning the three runs he never got.

Had this been a school game, you'd have let him bat on. It was that special, a proper paisa vasool knock, laced with 12 sixes.

- Ends

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