The new boy wonder: Why Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, is the real deal

Kolkata: What were you doing at 14? Figuring out school? Playing hooky at tuition? Crushing on that girl at basketball practice? Vaibhav Suryavanshi has hit an IPL hundred, that too the second fastest ever. At 10, he was already taking on boys twice his age and clearing the boundaries with ease... so, doing the same to Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Rashid Khan and Prasidh Krishna is a whole different league altogether but not exactly surprising. A high backlift, nimble footwork and riotous hand-eye coordination make Vaibhav a feast for the senses, and already a name to remember.

All at 14 years, 32 days to be exact, making him the youngest ever to score a T20 century, eclipsing Vijay Zol’s record—aged 18 years and 118 days—in 2013 when he had scored 109 for Maharashtra, against Mumbai.

“He was nine or 10 when he used to face local bowlers, pulling and hooking them with aplomb. Thank God he was never injured, plus he is also very fearless,” Sanjeev, his father, had told HT just before he made his Ranji debut aged 12 years and 284 days. It wasn’t without a touch of controversy, with rival factions of the Bihar association naming two sides, but Suryavanshi’s talent was never doubted.

Sanjeev, who used to play at the district level, used to work in Mumbai. On his off days he used to watch young boys playing cricket at the Oval Maidan where it struck him that Vaibhav too should be introduced to the game as early as possible. He moved back to his village in Samastipur, set up nets in the backyard of his house and made sure Vaibhav only played with proper leather cricket balls.

A couple of hundreds in the local leagues, followed by a double hundred at the U-16 level, and the Bihar junior selectors had no hesitation in promoting Vaibhav to the senior level. At the U-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy in 2024, Vaibhav aggregated 393 runs in five matches, prompting his Ranji selection. He has also scored a triple hundred, an unbeaten 332, in a local U-19 meet called the Randhir Verma Tournament, and pretty soon he was in the radar of the senior team management.

“(VVS) Laxman (the current NCA director and U-19 head coach) told me to let him turn 13 and then he would be prepared for the next cycle,” Sanjeev had said.

Soon enough, his U-19 debut came against Australia in Chennai where he scored 62-ball 104 opening the innings in the youth Test. At 13 years and 187 days, he had become the youngest to score a hundred in youth cricket. While Vaibhav was being put through the system, Sanjeev was always keen on bagging an IPL contract.

He was invited to trials at the high-performance centre of Rajasthan Royals in Nagpur, and pretty soon Vaibhav had sparked interest in other IPL franchises as well. On the day of the auction, Delhi Capitals too were bidding aggressively till they finally relented, and Royals could sign him for ₹1.1 crore. Vaibhav justified that price tag on Monday with a hundred where 94 runs came through boundaries. And he is still 14.