‘Other Bihar cricketers like Ishan Kishan…’: Vaibhav Suryavanshi's father makes ‘adamant’ decision for domestic career
Vaibhav Suryavanshi's family intends for him to stick through with Bihar at the domestic level, despite appeals to move to richer state teams.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s stellar rise in Indian cricket continues, with the 14-year old well and truly announcing his arrival with the fastest-ever century by an Indian player in the IPL in Rajasthan Royals’ recent win over Gujarat Titans. Suryavanshi is considered one of the brightest stars in Indian cricket, showing his ability to match up to some of the best bowlers in the world at just the age of 14, packing plenty of power and the bravery to go with it.
Nevertheless, Suryavanshi will undoubtedly be a work in progress given his age, especially as his follow-up two-ball duck to the century demonstrated. While that added edge will certainly come with age and experience, there have been calls from far and wide to ensure that Suryavanshi’s development be handled well.
Suryavanshi hails from the town of Samastipur in the state of Bihar, and his family have already spoken about committing to the Bihar cricket system, putting their faith in the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) to help him develop into the cricketer he has the potential to be, rather than defecting to one of the richer and more powerful state boards.
‘Other Bihar players like Ishan Kishan…’
In an interview with Indian Express, Vaibhav’s uncle Rajeev explained that Vaibhav’s father was ‘adamant’ that the southpaw batter would grow up representing Bihar through the domestic levels of cricket.
“Other Bihar players like Ishan Kishan had to go to other states to get noticed, but my brother was adamant that Vaibhav would shine from Bihar,” Rajeev said. “Many advised him to send Vaibhav to Delhi, Kolkata or Mumbai, saying that Bihar has no opportunities for cricket talent, but he wanted Vaibhav to be a Bihar cricketer.”
Suryavanshi made his First Class debut for Bihar in January 2024 as a 13-year-old, that being the occasion that truly brought him into national consciousness. Suryavanshi’s debut came against domestic giants Mumbai in a match played in Patna.
While Suryavanshi didn’t have the brightest start for his domestic team, his quality shone through at the U-19 level, where he blazed a century against Australia in a Youth Test in Chennai, before opening the batting at the U-19 Asia Cup, alongside fellow IPL 2025 breakthrough star Ayush Mhatre.
Suryavanshi continues to star for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, getting an extended run due to the injury absence of captain Sanju Samson.
