Vaibhav Suryavanshi becomes youngest IPL debutant in history at age 14: Who is Sanju Samson's replacement in RR vs LSG?

Sanju Samson is once again out of action as RR face LSG in their IPL 2025 fixture, in Jaipur on Saturday. Samson misses out due to an abdomen injury and Riyan Parag has taken up the captaincy role once again in his absence. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi made his IPL debut, and was initially named as an Impact Substitute. LSG won the toss and opted to bat. He opened for RR in their run-chase, coming in for Samson. Suryavanshi opened the run-chase with Yashasvi Jaiswal, after LSG posted 180/5 in 20 overs. (RR vs LSG, IPL 2025 Live Score)

Suryavanshi also became the youngest player to ever play in IPL, thereby also the youngest-ever debutant in IPL history. The left-handed batter turned 14 on March 27, and was purchased by RR for ₹1.1 crore in the mega auction last year, which saw him become the youngest player to get an IPL contract.

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He has played for India U-19 as an opener, and caught everyone’s attention with a 58-ball ton vs Australia in a four-day match. He was also key for India in their run to the 2024 Asia Cup final, where he got 176 runs at an average of 44. He also has bagged a triple century already, 332* in the Randhir Verma Tournament, which is an U-19 event in Bihar.

During toss, Parag said, “Vaibhav the youngster comes in. It's been kinda tricky, we've been doing small bits right but we haven't been able to put a collective performance together, we've been having honest chats as a team. We love playing here, we know the conditions well, hope we can put that to good use.”

Rahul Dravid on Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Speaking on the 14-year-old, RR head coach Rahul Dravid recently said, “He is training really well, and he looks like a really good and exciting talent but there are other equally good players as well and part of our responsibility is to groom him well, give him a little bit of time in the environment, let him get used to it and practice with the players, let him get a feel of the environment, all these are great experiences for him, rather than putting him straight in front of the crowd so it's a part of the process we follow in grooming a player and if an opportunity arises we won't be scared to play him if it is required.”