Vaibhav Sooryavanshi credited the backing he received from his Rajasthan Royals team-mates and coaches for his stellar knock against the Chennai Super Kings.

The Royals opened their 2026 Indian Premier League campaign with an eight-wicket win over CSK, with 15-year-old Sooryavanshi leading the charge for the home side on Monday.

He scored a 17-ball 50 before being dismissed for 52; it is the second-fastest half-century for the franchise after Yashasvi Jaiswal's 13-ball 50 in 2023.

Despite Jamie Overton and Anshul Kamboj recording CSK's highest 10th wicket partnership in the IPL (33 runs), Rajasthan recorded their biggest victory by a margin of balls left (47).

"The plan was to go big in the powerplay. The wicket was sticky early on, but then it eased up," said Sooryavanshi, who became the youngest men's player to a score a century in T20 cricket last year.

First time was so nice….  pic.twitter.com/5gEvLOBvZM

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 30, 2026

"I thought of defending, but the plan was to decide the game in the powerplay as we'd restricted them to a low score.

"The coaches have told me that they back me and they're behind me. Prep went well, we were here early, they told me to read the game and back my game.

"After every ball, Jaiswal told me not to take a single. He told me that the ball's going off the bat nicely and to keep going."

The Royals face the Gujarat Titans on the road in the next game before a home match against the Mumbai Indians.