IPL’s favourite new guessing game ahead of Qualifier 2: Terminator Vaibhav Sooryavanshi or warhorse Kagiso Rabada?

Who wins the battle? Vaibhav Sooryavanshi or Kagiso Rabada? Sooryavanshi or Rabada? The question loops endlessly, much like the old “she loves me, she loves me not” petal-plucking game.

As Qualifier 2 looms later tonight, Gujarat Titans will know one thing for certain: if they are to stand any chance, they must find a way to remove teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi early.

And if you’ve been playing that mental guessing game ahead of the clash, the anxiety is understandable.

Such has been Sooryavanshi’s form this season that opposition teams have begun treating him less like a batter and more like a storm that must be survived. In Wednesday’s Eliminator, the 15-year-old turned into a Terminator, smashing 97 off just 29 balls to power RR to a commanding 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad. He launched 12 sixes and came within one hit of registering the fastest century in IPL history before falling agonisingly short.

So, can anyone in GT’s ranks stop the phenomenon Sooryavanshi has become? If there is one man capable of doing it, it may well be Kagiso Rabada.

At the moment, betting against Sooryavanshi feels reckless. But Rabada possesses the tools to trouble him. The South African quick sits just behind RCB’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Purple Cap race, with both bowlers on 26 wickets, separated only by economy rate.

Rabada’s pace has been a defining feature of his season. And pace, particularly short-pitched pace, could be crucial tonight. The last time GT faced RR, it was a vicious short ball from Mohammed Siraj — clocked at over 90 mph — that undid Sooryavanshi. The Bihar prodigy’s instinct is to attack almost every delivery, and occasionally that aggression becomes a vulnerability.

Short balls remain one of cricket’s great equalisers. Even the best batters can be unsettled when genuine pace is directed at the body. And when those deliveries are executed with precision, they become lethal. Praful Hinge exposed that weakness again on Wednesday, dismissing Sooryavanshi for 97 with similar tactics.

It was not the first time Hinge had found success with that plan. Earlier in the season too, he had accounted for the youngest centurion in List A cricket using a comparable approach.

So there is evidence that Sooryavanshi can be troubled by the short ball. Give him fuller deliveries on a true batting surface, however, and he can become almost impossible to contain. Slow tracks and two-paced wickets may offer bowlers a chance, but on good batting strips, there is often nowhere to hide.

The New Chandigarh surface used for the Eliminator offered decent bounce despite being batter-friendly overall. That could encourage Rabada. If he hits the deck hard and targets that vulnerable zone, he may be able to exploit the one visible crack in Sooryavanshi’s armour.

Temperamentally too, Rabada is well-suited for such a contest. The South African, who turned 31 earlier this week, is among the rare fast bowlers who have accepted the harsh realities of T20 cricket — batters will dominate phases of the game, and panic rarely helps. Instead, he relies on patience, variation and persistence.

That composure could prove vital against a batter as fearless as Sooryavanshi.

Rabada also holds another advantage: unpredictability. Years of international cricket have equipped him with a vast range of deliveries and the experience to know when to use them. Against Sooryavanshi, that variety will matter enormously. If Rabada becomes predictable, the teenager could dismantle him in minutes.

But if he keeps the youngster guessing, this fascinating contest may yet tilt in the bowler’s favour.