Unlike every other player that has participated in the Indian Premier League, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is younger than the tournament itself.
Born in 2011, three years after the IPL’s inaugural season, ‘Boss Baby’ has become one of cricket’s most talked-about athletes courtesy of his remarkable feats in the glamorous T20 competition. Not since the likes of Luke Littler or Summer McIntosh has a teenage athlete generated as much discussion in the sporting world.
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We got a glimpse of his potential last season, when the left-hander clobbered a 35-ball century for the Rajasthan Royals, but he took his reputation to new heights during this year’s campaign, compiling 579 runs at an otherworldly strike rate of 236.32, the highest in an IPL season (minimum 500 runs). He’s also responsible for two of the three-fastest hundreds in IPL history.
Sooryavanshi has proven he’s not a flash in the pan, a slogger swinging for the fences on flat decks with short boundaries. He’s outperforming the rest of the competition and making some of the world’s best bowlers look amateurish.
Every ball of 14 y.o record breaking 100 | 10:46
“I think he’s my new favourite player,” Australian captain Pat Cummins told reporters last month, speaking after Sooryavanshi clobbered a 37-ball 103 against his Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“He hits the ball so hard, it’s great to watch, it’s good fun.
“You’ve got to be right on the money as a bowler because if you’re not, it’s going a long way.
“He’s impressive, he’s had a great start to his career and I like the way he plays, he takes the game on.”
Now, having earned his maiden India A call-up, Sooryavanshi is on the verge of following in the footsteps of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar by making his international debut in his teens.
India is scheduled to tour England for a five-match T20 series in July, and there are growing calls for Sooryavanshi to be on the plane to the United Kingdom.
“I’d have him in the squad for the England series in the summer. I absolutely would,” former Test captain Michael Vaughan said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
“If he was 20, he’d be in the team.”
Highest strike rate in an IPL season
236.3* – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (RR), 2026
206.2* – Abhishek Sharma (SRH), 2026
204.8 – Andre Russell (KKR), 2019
196.2 – Nicholas Pooran (LSG), 2025
191.5 – Travis Head (SRH), 2024
Minimum 500 runs
14-y.o Indian gun smacks 52-ball ton! | 04:57
‘BEST PLAYER I’VE SEEN SINCE TENDULKAR’
Suryavanshi hails from the village of Tajpurin in the state of Bihar, located in India’s northeast near the country’s border with Nepal; former Indian captain MS Dhoni comes from the same region.
Trying to emulate West Indies legend Brian Lara – who retired before he was born – Suryavanshi learnt the craft of batting on a cement pitch laid by his father, Sanjiv, in the backyard of his childhood home.
Aged seven, he was sent to the GenNex Academy in Patna’s Sampatchak area, a 200km round trip, to further hone his skills – and local coaches quickly identified his budding potential.
Batting mentor Zubin Bharucha, who has previously worked with the Rajasthan Royals, recalls watching the youngster slap the academy’s fastest bowlers down the ground and into the sightscreen.
“I’m getting goosebumps now, it was completely surreal,” he told Wisden’s The Scoop podcast.
“We’ve got something completely generational here.
“He’s the best player I’ve seen since Sachin Tendulkar.”
After scoring an unbeaten 332 during a state Under-19 competition, Suryavanshi became the seventh-youngest cricketer in first-class history after making his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar aged 12.
13yo Indian prodigy crushes Aussies | 01:29
Later that year, the young opener blasted a 58-ball hundred in a Youth Test against Australia’s Under-19 team, thumping four sixes against a bowling attack comprised of young adults. He had just turned 13, making him the youngest centurion in the history of Under-19 internationals.
In late 2024, Sooryavanshi became the youngest player in IPL history after the Royals signed him for INR 1.1 crore, approximately AU$195,000. The purchase was considered a gimmick by many, but it didn’t take long for the teenager to justify his salary.
Sooryavanshi made his IPL debut in April 2025 after Royals captain Sanju Samson suffered a side strain, slapping his first delivery over cover for six. The following week, he announced himself to the cricket world by smacking a 38-ball 101 against the Gujarat Titans in Jaipur, facing a bowling attack comprised entirely of Test cricketers.
He continued dominating at Under-19 level, hitting a 78-ball 143 during a Youth ODI against England in July 2025. Despite being the youngest player in the tournament, he was India’s leading run-scorer during this year’s triumphant Under-19 World Cup campaign, cracking an 80-ball 175 in the final against England, a jaw-dropping performance that featured 15 sixes.
Former Test all-rounder Mike Yardy, coach of England’s Under-19 team, watched the carnage from the dugout on both occasions.
“The talent he has got, I don’t know what to predict because I have never seen anything quite like it,” Yardy told the BBC.
“He gets a full flow and gets everything out of his bat swing but is then able to hold a really consistent base with his feet into the ground, with balance and keeping his head still.
“I think there is a unique talent to it. You have got to have an extraordinary gift to do that.”
He added: “He is doing things now that players double his age are doing.
“You imagine, if he keeps going the way he is, he can play all formats of international cricket.”
14-year-old phenom ERUPTS in WC final! | 01:27
15YO’S ASCENT ‘SCARY FOR WORLD CRICKET’
The records kept toppling in 2026, with Sooryavanshi becoming the fastest cricketer to score 1000 T20 runs and the quickest to achieve 100 T20 sixes.
The ease at which he clears the boundary rope, combined with his fearless approach with the willow, makes him a constant threat, while he’s unfazed by the reputation of his opponent. The first delivery he faced against Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah – arguably the world’s best multi-format bowlers – were each dispatched over the fence.
He’s not intimidated by pace; he relishes it.
Sooryavanshi has cleared the boundary rope on 53 occasions this season, breaking the record for most sixes by an Indian player during an IPL tournament. Gayle’s overall record of 59 sixes is in serious jeopardy.
“I’ve seen some amazing players in my 35 years of cricket, but to see a young man bat like that – not just tonight but throughout the series – is breathtaking,” Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer said after Sooryavanshi cracked a 38-ball 93 in Jaipur earlier this week.
“It’s quite incredible actually to be able to play that way.
“My gosh, he’s so young. He’s a brilliant, brilliant player and it’s a real privilege to watch him bat actually.
“He’ll adapt, he’ll keep getting better and better, which is scary for world cricket.”
MOST SIXES IN AN IPL SEASON
59 – Chris Gayle (RCB), 2012
53* – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (RR), 2026
52 – Andre Russell (KKR), 2019
51 – Chris Gayle (RCB), 2013
45 – Jos Buttler (RR), 2022
Suryavanshi shines again to lift Royals | 00:51
The secret to Sooryavanshi’s success lies in his unique and unorthodox stance; with a bent back, his body contorts at the waist as he produces a whippy bat swing, similar to that of childhood hero Lara.
He doesn’t commit his front foot, which allows him to adjust late when facing the swinging ball, while his weight is centred at the middle of his foot rather than his toes. And because he doesn’t press forward in a traditional manner, bowlers are thrown off their lengths, forcing his opponents to adapt on the fly.
Sooryavanshi also possesses a high back lift with the bat pointed towards gully, parallel to the crease, much like how Sir Donald Bradman angled towards second slip.
Bharucha, who has helped Sooryavanshi fine-tune his batting action over the last couple of years, claims that his bat speed has increased from 95km/h to 110km/h, while the teenager has also been working on his cut stroke, which was previously considered a weakness.
“He’s extremely intelligent,” Bharucha added.
“He’s incredibly sharp, he’ll remember every tiny detail of every game he played, and every ball a bowler tried to bowl to him, and if he didn’t play that ball well.”
INDIA NEEDS TO TAKE ‘LEAP OF FAITH’
Last week, Sooryavanshi was named in the India A squad for next month’s one-day tri-series against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, proving he’s not far from earning national selection.
Currently, India’s youngest men’s T20I debutant is Washington Sundar, who was 18 when he debuted against Sri Lanka in 2017; Sooryavanshi could topple that record by multiple years.
“The way he is taking on bowlers easily when they are bowling at 145 km/h is fantastic,” former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan told IANS.
“The day is not far when he debuts for India.”
Former Bihar player Samar Quadri, a talent scout for the Royals, agreed that Sooryavanshi was ready for the challenges of international cricket.
“The sky’s the limit,” he told The Scoop.
“He could play for the Indian team for 20 years, easily.”
Every Boundary! Vaibhav’s INSANE century | 05:38
But what about Test cricket? Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days old when he made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1989. Should India fast-track another promising youngster into the Test set-up ahead of next year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy?
Sooryavanshi’s current first-class record is modest at best, averaging 17.25 with the bat across eight matches for Bihar. However, during his most recent Ranji Trophy appearance, he smashed a 67-ball 93 against Meghalaya in Patna, a whirlwind knock that featured four sixes.
Although his prior red-ball experience doesn’t justify Test selection, Bharucha implored India to take a “leap of faith” and give him an opportunity to prove his worth in the five-day format.
“He’s already ahead of so many people that are waiting in line,” he said.
“They need to take that leap of faith, as they did with Sachin Tendulkar all those years ago, and blood him straight away.”
Quadri also revealed that Sooryavanshi doesn’t want to be considered a white-ball specialist, claiming that: “He told me, ‘I love red-ball cricket, the fielders are up, I can hit the ball anywhere.’”
However, South African legend AB de Villiers offered a blunt reality check for the Indian prodigy, casting doubt on whether he was equipped to tackle the other formats.
“I don’t know if he’s going to last, to be honest,” he told the For the Love of Cricket podcast.
“At this age, it’s just absolutely incredible. We know the talent is there, but I would like to see him in other formats.
“If he does start nibbling around in ODIs and particularly Test cricket, he will discover a whole different area of his cricket mentally and physically.”
Pollock: Best performance in IPL history | 00:56
THREE-YEAR-OLD VIDEO FUELS MYSTERY
The lingering elephant in the room, a mystery that social media sleuths are desperate to crack, is the legitimacy of Sooryavanshi’s age.
While his official birth date is March 27, 2011, during an interview with BNN News Benipatti in 2023, Sooryavanshi claimed he turned 14 in September the previous year, which would make him 17 now.
However, Sooryavanshi’s father has fiercely defended his age, insisting that he has undergone bone testing to prove it.
“When he was eight and a half years old, he first appeared for a BCCI bone test,” Sanjiv told PTI last year.
“We don’t fear anyone. He can again undergo an age test.”
Regardless of his true age, India has uncovered a generational talent in Sooryavanshi, whose IPL season resumes this weekend.
The Royals need to defeat the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday evening to qualify for the finals, with the match commencing at 8pm AEST.
And while the contest is expected to feature the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer and Suryakumar Yadav, fans will be more eager to watch the baby-faced teen from Tajpurin.