Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is an emerging cricketing talent from Bihar, making waves with his elegant left-handed batting. His journey in cricket began at the age of four when his father identified his passion for the game. By nine, he had joined a cricket academy in Samastipur, where he honed his skills. His impressive performances in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy quickly propelled him into Bihar’s Ranji Trophy squad, where he made his first-class debut against Mumbai in January 2024.

Later that year, Sooryavanshi showcased his talent on the international stage, representing India Under-19 in the Youth Test series against Australia Under-19. He grabbed headlines with a blistering 58-ball century in Chennai, a performance that earned him a spot in the ACC Men's U19 Asia Cup. Though his performances in the tournament were modest, his potential was evident.

Recognizing his immense talent, Rajasthan invited him for trials ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League auction. With his precocious ability, many expected Rajasthan to go after him, but Delhi also entered the fray, sparking a fierce bidding war. Eventually, Rajasthan secured his services for INR 1.1 crores, making him the youngest player to earn an IPL contract.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lit up IPL 2025 with record-breaking performances that redefined expectations from a young batter. At just 14, he became the youngest debutant (14 years, 23 days) and the youngest centurion (14 years, 32 days) in IPL history, headlined by a breathtaking 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans. His 35-ball century was the second-fastest in IPL history and the fastest by an Indian, while his 11 sixes in that innings equalled the record for the most by an Indian in a single IPL knock. He finished the season with 252 runs in just seven matches at a staggering strike rate of 206.56, leaving no doubt about his extraordinary potential, and was unsurprisingly retained by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2026 season.

Beyond the IPL, Sooryavanshi continued to shatter records across formats. He became the youngest centurion in men’s List A cricket during the Vijay Hazare Trophy, hammering a 36-ball hundred against Arunachal Pradesh, and went on to break the record for the fastest 150 in men’s List A cricket with a stunning 190 off 84 balls. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he added another milestone by becoming the youngest player to score a century in the tournament. His remarkable rise was further recognised when he was conferred with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2025 by President Droupadi Murmu, India’s highest civilian award for children in the sports category.

He carried this red-hot form into age-group cricket as well, dominating for India U19. In the U19 Asia Cup 2025, he amassed 261 runs in five matches, including a sensational 171 against UAE, the highest score by an Indian in the tournament’s history, while also smashing a record 14 sixes in a single innings. Sooryavanshi then elevated his game even further in the U19 World Cup 2026, where he piled up 439 runs in seven matches. The highlight came in the final against England, where he produced a record-breaking 175 off just 80 balls, featuring 15 fours and 15 sixes, the highest individual score in a U19 World Cup final, powering India to a commanding 100-run victory.

This momentum exploded into the IPL 2026 season, which officially belonged to the 15-year-old opening prodigy as he orchestrated the most statistically explosive season by a batsman in T20 history. Amassing 776 runs across 16 innings, Sooryavanshi became the youngest ever Orange Cap winner. During this run, he also became the fastest player to reach the 1,000 career IPL runs milestone, needing just 440 balls to break Andre Russell’s long-standing record.

His boundary-hitting during the 2026 season redefined the limits of modern power-hitting. Suryavanshi surpassed Chris Gayle’s iconic 2012 record by hitting a world-record 72 sixes in a single T20 tournament. His historic season featured three separate innings with 10 or more sixes, notably blasting 97 runs off 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator, followed by a spectacular 96 off 47 balls against the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2. At the post-season awards ceremony, he pulled off an unprecedented sweep of five major awards, walking away with the Orange Cap, Most Valuable Player of the Season, Emerging Player of the Season, Super Striker of the Season, and the Super Sixes Award.

Following this unprecedented wave of success, in June 2026, he earned his maiden selection to the India 'A' squad for the upcoming red-ball bilateral tour of Sri Lanka.