India, May 27 -- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was so close to history, but it wasn't meant to be for the teen prodigy on Wednesday. The Rajasthan Royals' opening batter missed out on the fastest Indian Premier League (IPL) century as he lost his wicket to Praful Hinge on 97 in the Eliminator against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 15-year-old was batting on 97 off 28 balls, and if he had hit a boundary or a six off the next delivery, Chris Gayle's record for the fastest IPL ton off 30 balls would have been broken. But fate had something else in mind as Sooryavanshi ended up losing his wicket.

After getting dismissed, the entire Mullanpur stadium was stunned into silence, and Sooryavanshi was slow to get back to the pavilion. The left-hander sported...