Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan showered praise on Vaibhav Suryavanshi for adjusting his batting style in the second qualifier against Gujarat Titans at New Chandigarh on Friday. With wicket tumbling at the other end, Suryavanshi played cautiously on a tricky pitch.
Yet, he scored 96 runs off just 47 balls with the help of eight fours and seven sixes. The left-hander scored his runs at a strike rate of 204.26 and played a key role in helping his team post a decent total of 214 runs on the board.
Khan observed that GT and SRH had employed different bowling plans against Suryavanshi but he was able to deliver in both games.
Khan said on Cricbuzz, “For someone to have this kind of a season with 700-plus runs being scored. You can’t just bat in one fashion. You know, at some stage teams are going to figure it out. They’re going to try different things, and same was the case with Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Even today, GT was trying different tactics. They were trying to contain him by having mid-off, forcing him to play over mid-on. You’ve seen SRH trying to set a different field, so all those challenges, all those questions are going to be asked by different teams at different times, and you’ve got to stay on top of it.”
The former Indian pacer said Suryavanshi has different dimensions to his game and he can play according to the pitch and match situation.
“And that’s what has happened today as well. It was another example of wickets falling at the other end; he was not really able to get going. But look at the strike rate at which he’s batting. Slowish innings compared to what he’s been doing. But still managed to score 96 at a 205 strike rate. That’s phenomenal. So, you know, he’s got different dimensions to his game. He can play the situation, and that’s the exciting part. Like I said, it’s just about understanding more and more and having that sustenance. You know, if he’s able to just stay on this track, the records and the numbers will happen in due course.”
Suryavanshi ended IPL 2026 with 776 runs in 16 matches.
