Rajasthan Royals, the first-ever champions of the IPL, have been awaiting their second title in the IPL for all these seasons. Under a new skipper, the Royals and their youngest player, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, have declared themselves the champions of IPL 2026.

The Rajasthan Royals have managed to win only one IPL, which was back in 2008, the inaugural season of the IPL. Ever since then, they have played in just one of the other IPL finals, in 2022, when the Sanju Samson-led side was defeated by the Gujarat Titans.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the youngster, was included in the Rajasthan Royals playing XI last time. He went on to be the youngest ever cricketer, aged 13, who was part of the RR playing XI in the IPL. He then went on to be the youngest centurion in the IPL.

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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi declares Rajasthan Royals as the champions of IPL 2026

Ahead of the start of IPL 2026, the Rajasthan Royals management and their youngest cricketer, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, have declared themselves champions of the upcoming season of the IPL.

In a promotional video ahead of the IPL 2026, the Royals team showed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi imitating Ranveer Singh’s famous scene from the Bollywood movie Dhurandhar, where he writes down his targets in a secret diary.

Sooryavanshi has been seen striking off his accomplished targets, like an IPL century and the U19 World Cup, while he writes the next target as the IPL trophy. Suryavanshi’s form has been sublime across all formats of white-ball cricket.

𝐕𝐚𝐢𝐛𝐡𝐚𝐯 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐏𝐋 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 🔥💗 pic.twitter.com/Eh2ofR9N3L

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 16, 2026

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s dream debut in IPL 2025

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did not get his chance in the first half of the tournament for the Rajasthan Royals. The Rahul Dravid-led side wonderfully scouted the young cricketer from Bihar as a supreme talent who will shape the future of the Rajasthan Royals and Indian cricket.

Sooryavanshi played 7 games for the Royals and amassed 252 runs for them with a strike rate of over 200. He averaged 36 in the tournament and scored a century in his debut season. As a 13-year-old cricketer, he is the youngest to have scored a hundred.

He scored a half-century and a century, which also became the second-fastest century in the IPL off just 35-balls against the Gujarat Titans.

Sooryavanshi’s terrific run for India in the U19 Asia Cup and World Cup

The 14-year-old cricketer became the youngest cricketer to feature in the ICC U19 World Cup, as he was part of the 2026 ICC Men’s U19 World Cup. The opening batter from India scored 439 runs across 7 innings for India at an average of 62.71.

What made him different from others was the sublime strike rate of 169.50. He finished as the second-highest run-getter in the tournament and led India to another U19 World Cup triumph.

His record-breaking innings came in the final, when he scored 175 runs off just 80 balls in the final of the competition. He also broke the record for most sixes in the single edition of the Under-19 World Cup.

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Mumbai: The transportation impasse that has halted exports to the Middle East is affecting prices of essential food items in Mumbai. Eggs are marginally cheaper in the wholesale market owing to thwarted exports. Meanwhile, edible oil costs are rising as imports have dwindled.Unlike wholesale prices though, the retail rate of eggs has not decreased correspondingly. TOI spoke to retailers citywide and found them still charging Rs 66-80 per dozen. Only the rate in Borivli-Dahisar was Rs 60 Tuesday. An egg store in Kalyan reduced rates from Rs 160 for two dozen to Rs 150 this week. Local shops continued to charge Rs 6.50-7 apiece. Navi Mumbai buyers continued to pay Rs 70-75 per dozen, only slightly lower than the earlier Rs 75-80. Traders said demand had weakened coupled with disruption in LPG supply, leading eateries to stop serving boiled eggs.Abdullah Hanif Dhaga of Isa Egg Mart, Jogeshwari, said, “Export of eggs to the Middle East has stopped owing to the war. So the wholesale price has fallen from Rs 750 per 100 eggs to Rs 480. In fact, it fell to Rs 450 last week. Within a month and a half, the market is down by Rs 300.”Abdul Rahim of House of Eggs said, “Prices have also decreased due to change of climate and decrease in demand.”Altaf Ahmed Khan of Ahmed Eggs Merchant said, “Rates have reduced due to lower demand caused by the concurrent Ramzan and Lent fasts. There is less demand for eggs at breakfast. Plus, exports to the Gulf have halted, diverting more eggs to the local market. Also, several hotels and restaurants have closed due to the LPG crunch so consumption has fallen.”The onset of summer typically sees a fall in consumption, so prices tend to drop. The upcoming Chaitra Navratra March 19 will see more people avoid non-vegetarian food, shrinking demand further.Meanwhile, the price of edible oil is rising swiftly because imports are hampered by the Gulf war. Sunflower oil was Rs 15 costlier per litre while mustard oil climbed Rs 10. Blended oils too inched upward on online marketplaces from Rs 880 for a five litre can to Rs 1,000.Traders said prices rose as sunflower oil imports had suffered. Mumbai APMC grain market director Nilesh Veera said wholesale rates went up by Rs 5 per litre in the past few days, but then dropped slightly. “So the hike is now Rs 2-3 per litre which raises retail prices proportionately,” he said. He ruled out domestic shortages. Edible oils are sourced from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, and Nepal, not only conflict zones, said Veera.Wholesaler Bhimji Bhanushali said foodgrains, including basmati rice, are cheaper due to weaker exports and higher domestic availability. “We keep telling retailers not to create war hype since the prices of grains have remained constant,” said Bhanushali.

India No. 1 Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger tournament in Pune.

New Delhi: Sumit Nagal had just stepped off the court after playing his first-round match at the ATP Challenger in Delhi. He went past Spain’s David Jorda Sanchis in straight sets and posed for selfies with a handful of kids who had patiently waited for the match to end. Having spent an hour and 28 minutes on the court, Nagal rushed to the locker room to perform his cool-down exercises and emerged looking fresher about an hour later.

As Delhi’s winter chill gave way to the heat in the second week of February, Nagal spoke briefly with his coach Sascha Nensel, while seated near the pool at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex.One of the topics, perhaps, would have been how he felt physically on the court. The shots, for the most part, looked good. Nagal struck 14 winners, converted two of three break points and was more accurate than his opponent: 20 unforced errors to Sanchis’s 38. There was a drop in intensity, he admitted, which made him sloppy.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The 28-year-old ended his 2025 season early and spent 5-6 weeks in the pre-season focusing on multiple things, but being physically fit, under the watchful eye of his fitness trainer Milos Galecic, was pivotal.“If I could change my body, I would do it like this,” he said with a snap of his fingers. “It’s really frustrating. It’s really annoying. It’s been really tough. I don’t know what to say, honestly,” added Nagal, to TimesofIndia.com, with irritation palpable in his words.

Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger in Delhi.

Nagal knows the frustration of injuries all too well. He underwent hip surgery in 2021 that kept him out for six months. A back injury saw him withdraw from a Davis Cup tie in 2024. Back niggles continued a year later. Even this year, a hip flexor tear forced him to retire mid-match at the ATP Challenger in Nonthaburi, Thailand.“Thanks for the bumpy ride, 2025,” he wrote on social media after a year of no singles titles and as he slipped from top-100 in rankings to World No. 277.“Getting injured in random tournaments, (to) random balls, no pattern. It’s very frustrating but I’ve also accepted it’s part of it. It is annoying also that it takes out my rhythm. I’m a small guy. I need to play in rhythm. It’s very tough for me to just stand on the court and go boom, boom, boom.“I need to play, play, play. My best years have been when I’ve been injury-free. I think the last 15-17 months have been very unfortunate, with 4-5 different injuries, but I’m trying my best. I am working as much as possible. Right now, there are no ifs, buts or maybe,” he continued.

Sumit Nagal in action during the ATP Challenger in Delhi.

The ‘best years’ that Nagal refers to are performances like qualifying for the 2024 Australian Open and beating World No. 27 Alexander Bublik. He then clinched the ATP Challenger in Chennai. Then there was a three-setter against Holger Rune in Monte Carlo.Now, not surprisingly, he’s spending a little bit more time on fitness and rehab. The World No. 278 player has changed his diet, is eating less gluten and reminds himself to be patient as the body undergoes a change.Through these injuries, recoveries and continuous struggles, Nagal, who was once World No. 68 in July 2024, has matured.“I think the surgery was where I really matured. The reason was that I watched a lot of tennis in those months. I understood the patterns,” said Nagal.

“Obviously, you also get a little bit older. You get more emotionally stable. Things play out just because you’ve been there for a while. You understand what is what. You have experience now. You are more calm, more mature. So I would say these things are what made the biggest difference,” he continued.“Injuries are very tough to say. If you struggle for a while, then it can affect your movements. When I had this hip surgery, I was struggling for a year to play without pain. “And then when I decided, ‘listen, I cannot really play like this. I need to figure things out’. But also, I lost almost one-and-a-half to two years because so many months you lose on trying to figure things out.

Sumit Nagal at the ATP Challenger tournament in Pune.

“When the surgery is done, it takes you almost 8-10 months to come back because a joint that is coming out of a surgical clinic, you also have to be patient,” he stressed.The fears for Nagal and his team came back in January. When it was confirmed that it wasn’t bad enough to warrant surgery, the Delhi-born worked overdrive on recovery and rehab alongside Yash Pandey, who has worked extensively with the India No. 1. The expected 5-6 weeks of rehab was shaved to three weeks with ‘no days off.’On the court, the struggles persist. After six tournaments — Australian Open wildcard playoff, Bengaluru Challenger, Nonthaburi Challenger, Chennai Challenger, Delhi Challenger, Pune Challenger — Nagal has not been able to stitch two wins in a row.None hurt more than the loss against Harold Mayot in Bengaluru. The Indian was up 6-2 in the third-set tiebreaker and had the finish line in sight after three hours. He had saved two match points and now had seven match points of his own. One after the other, they kept going away from him. One of the lost opportunities was when Nagal misjudged a ball, expecting it to go long, only to watch it take the line.Many weeks later, he has a pragmatic approach to the season and defeats so far.“I think the Bangalore loss was very unfortunate. It felt really bad for a bit. But then I also realised if I’m in this position 10 times, I’m probably going to win 9 times. So I said, ‘Man, you know, take it, can’t win all. You will have matches like this because I know that I have been on the other side also. And every tennis player goes through this. Sometimes you win from a really bad position and then you [also] lose from a really good position,” said Nagal.Sumit’s favourite part of the season begins now – on clay. He has returned to his place and academy in Germany, and the first tournament is in Zadar, Croatia, with the French Open a possibility. Now, he is focusing on the controllables – the backhand, the serve, the volley.“Other things I can’t really control. And if I can control these things, I will be a better player,” he said with the maturity of someone whose patient game now, unfortunately, matches his off-the-court injuries-induced patience.