The Indian Premier League (IPL) is known to give opportunities to young and relatively unknown players. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is the latest name that grabbed the attention of many.
He becomes the youngest-ever player to be picked in an IPL team. Vaibhav Suryavanshi was picked up by Rajasthan Royals (RR) for a sum of INR 1.1 crore in the IPL auction for the 2025 season.
Afghanistan off-spinner Allah Ghazanfar was the one who held the previous record. At just 15 years and 161 days, he entered the auction for the 2023 season. He didn’t get picked that time but he was added to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad in the IPL 2024 as Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman’s replacement.
Vaibhav has been in the news in the recent past. The left-hander from Bihar made his first-class against Mumbai in Patna earlier this year. At 12 years and 284 days, he became India’s youngest first-class debutant in the last four decades.
Recently, he was picked in the India Under-19 squad that played two Youth Test matches against Australia Under-19. He smashed 104 off 62 balls in his debut Youth Test. It made him the youngest-ever centurion at the international level (which includes Under-19, all men’s and women’s cricket). Najmul Hossain Shanto held the previous record (14 years and 241 days).
With Vaibhav being in the news quite a bit, there were some allegations of age fraud. However, his father dismissed all such claims. Sanjiv Suryavanshi confirmed that his son has gone through a BCCI bone test when he was eight years old. He admitted that they don’t have any fear and Vaibhav can undergo age test once again if required.
“When he was 8 and half years old he first appeared for a BCCI bone test. He has already played India U-19. We don’t fear anyone. He can again undergo age test,” Sanjiv Suryavanshi was quoted saying to PTI.
Sanjiv said that his son only wants to play cricket at the moment and nothing else. He used to love Doremon but not anymore. “He just wants to play cricket and nothing else. A few years back he loved Doremon, not anymore,” the father added.
Rajasthan Royals called Vaibhav Suryavanshi for trials
He further revealed that Rajasthan Royals had called him for trials and batting coach Vikram Rathore assigned him the task of hitting 17 runs in an over. Vaibhav passed the test with flying colours as he smashed three sixes.
“Rajasthan Royals had called him for trials in Nagpur. Vikram Rathour sir (batting coach) gave a match situation where he had to score 17 in an over. Bituwa ne 3 chakka mara. Trials mein aat chakka aur char chauwaa mara (He smashed three sixes. At trials, he hit eight sixes and four fours),” Sanjiv revealed.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi has already played five first-class matches in his career so far. He has made just 100 runs. He recently made his T20 debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season. The 13-year-old smashed two sixes in his maiden outing and scored 16 off six balls while opening the batting for Bihar.
It’ll be interesting to see if Vaibhav makes his IPL debut. The current record for the youngest IPL debutant is held by Prayas Ray Barman who played for RCB in 2019 when he was 16 years and 157 days old.
