The entire cricket world is talking about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old, seen as a prodigy in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when he made his debut last year, outscored the best players in the world to win the Orange Cap in the 2026 season. The likes of Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Heinrich Klaasen played catch-up to the teenager for most of the season. As Sooryavanshi arrived on the podium during the presentation ceremony after the IPL final on Sunday, Kohli shared his honest opinion of him with his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate AB de Villiers.
During a chat after the match, De Villiers, who was working with the broadcasters, JioStar, during the final, revealed what Kohli had told him about Sooryavanshi when the teenage opener went up to collect his Orange Cap trophy.
“Do you want to know what Virat said? I did have a brief chat with Virat, and as Vaibhav was walking up to the stage to receive his Orange Cap trophy, Virat raised his eyebrows and said, ‘AB, this kid is special. The boy can play,'” the former South Africa captain revealed.
Virat Kohli × Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Defining the current era and shaping the next.#ViratKohli #RCBvsGT #IPLFinal pic.twitter.com/GhITcXZoly
— Football Trendz (@FootballTrendz_) June 1, 2026
De Villiers also had high praise for Kohli, who scored a match-winning 75 off 42 balls to help RCB secure back-to-back titles. He pointed out the tactical mistakes GT skipper Shubman Gill made in the final, which enabled Kohli to do the bulk of the damage.
“In a final, if you take him out of that chasing batting order, then everything looks a bit different. With Rashid Khan firing from one end, and some of the other GT bowlers also doing really well, he just brings that calmness.
“He knows how to pace a chase right through the innings and finish it off. And it’s very fitting that he was there right at the end, scoring the winning runs. GT were a bit naughty in feeding into his strengths.
“A lot of deliveries were on his legs during his first 20 to 30 runs. If you give one of the best players of all time a start like that, he’s always going to punish you. Once he started flowing, it was just plain sailing, one-way traffic. To be there at the end and call those final mome