Former India batter Aakash Chopra has shared his thoughts on how the Mumbai Indians (MI) will tackle the threat posed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ahead of their game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, April 7.
Chopra believes that the potential clash between the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi and Jasprit Bumrah is the biggest story of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The former player-turned-pundit, however, questions whether MI would use their star bowler
against Sooryavanshi and would instead use the swing from Trent Boult or Deepak Chahar to get the better of the left-handed opener.
"Bumrah vs Vaibhav Sooryavanshi - is that the biggest story of the IPL to date in this tournament? Who is the genius? It's Bumrah. Who is Gen Next's poster boy? It's the wonderkid, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. They will be facing each other. The last time they faced each other, Bumrah wasn't required. Deepak Chahar had dismissed him for zero. He had a hundred in the match before that," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"I feel the ball will be bowled full for him, and Bumrah won't start. However, if Bumrah starts, then I will just doff my hat. If you have to take out your Brahmastra to stop a 15-year-old kid, it just tells me everything that I need to know, but Mumbai may not go in that direction. They might get the job done by Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar at the start, because if Vaibhav can have a problem, it's swing bowling," he added.
Sooryavanshi is only in his second IPL season. Last year, he played seven games and scored 252 runs, at a strike-rate of well above 200. He even hit his maiden century in the tournament, scoring 101 against the Gujarat Titans.
In the next game, however, he faced MI in Jaipur and was dismissed for a duck, with Chahar getting the better of him. The right-arm seamer pitched the ball up with Sooryavanshi trying to clear the field, only to find Will Jacks at mid on.
Sooryavanshi has made a great start to the 2026 IPL season. He started by scoring a 17-ball 52 against the Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati, before scoring 31 against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
RR are currently one of four sides yet to lose a game in this season’s IPL, along with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals and the Punjab Kings.
