Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: Biography, Career & Stats
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is a 15-year-old left-handed opening batter from Bihar who plays for India and the Rajasthan Royals. He became the youngest centurion in IPL history at 14, won the Orange Cap in IPL 2026 with 776 runs and a record 72 sixes, and in July 2026 became the youngest player ever to represent India.
U19 World Cup winner 2026
Asian Games gold medallist 2026
776
16 matches · Orange Cap · strike rate 237.30
72
2026 · record, previous best 59 (Gayle, 2012)
35 balls
v Gujarat Titans · Jaipur 2025
15 yrs 99 days
T20I v England · Manchester 2026
Athlete Profile
Sooryavanshi is the most talked-about young batter in world cricket, and almost every record in his career comes with a “youngest” attached. The key facts about him are below.
Full name
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (also spelled Suryavanshi)
Born
27 March 2011, Tajpur, Samastipur district, Bihar, India (age 15)
Nickname
“Boss Baby”
Role
Left-handed opening batter, part-time left-arm spinner
Teams
India, Rajasthan Royals, Bihar, East Zone, India A
First-class debut
January 2024 v Mumbai (Ranji Trophy), aged 12 years 284 days
IPL debut
19 April 2025 v Lucknow Super Giants
T20I debut
4 July 2026 v England, Old Trafford
Honours
IPL 2026 Orange Cap and MVP, U19 World Cup Player of the Tournament 2026, Asian Games gold 2026, Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2025
Early Life
Sooryavanshi was born in Tajpur, a village in the Samastipur district of Bihar. His father, Sanjiv, had hoped to play cricket himself and pushed his son into the game. Vaibhav began training at the age of four in Samastipur.
At eight he joined Manish Ojha’s GenNex Cricket Academy in Patna, and he and his father travelled about 100 km to the academy on alternate days. He has named the West Indian batter Brian Lara as his inspiration.
Career
Sooryavanshi moved through age-group, first-class, List A and T20 cricket faster than any Indian before him. These are the key stages up to the end of 2025.
Bihar and India B Under-19
He played for Bihar’s Under-19 side in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy at 12 and then for India B Under-19, scoring 177 runs in six innings with two half-centuries.
Ranji Trophy debut at 12
Sooryavanshi made his first-class debut for Bihar against Mumbai at 12 years and 284 days, the youngest in modern Ranji Trophy history. He scored 19 and 12 in that match.
Hundred in 58 balls against Australia U19
In a Youth Test against Australia Under-19, he scored 104 off 58 balls before being run out. It was the fastest hundred by an India U19 player and the second-fastest century in U19 internationals.
T20 and List A debuts, and an IPL contract
He made his T20 debut for Bihar in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at 13 years and 241 days, the youngest in T20 history. In November 2024 Rajasthan Royals bought him for ₹1.1 crore at the IPL auction, making him the youngest player ever signed in the league. In December he debuted in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at 13 years and 269 days, the youngest Indian in List A cricket. At the 2024 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup he scored 76 off 46 balls against the UAE and 67 off 36 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka.
IPL debut and a century in 35 balls
Sooryavanshi debuted for Rajasthan Royals on 19 April 2025 aged 14 years and 23 days, the youngest in IPL history, and scored 34 off 20 balls, hitting a six off the first ball he faced. On 28 April he made 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur, with seven fours and 11 sixes. The century came off 35 balls, the fastest by an Indian in the IPL and the second-fastest overall behind Chris Gayle’s 30. He was the youngest centurion in IPL history and in men’s T20 cricket. He finished his first season with 252 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 206.56.
144 off 42 balls for India A
At the Asia Cup Rising Stars in Doha, he scored 144 off 42 balls for India A against the UAE, reaching his hundred in 32 balls. Earlier that month he made 93 off 67 balls for Bihar against Meghalaya in the Ranji Trophy, his first first-class fifty.
190 off 84 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy
Against Arunachal Pradesh, he scored 190 off 84 balls with 16 fours and 15 sixes. His hundred took 36 balls, he reached 150 in 59 balls, the fastest in List A cricket, and at 14 years and 272 days he became the youngest List A centurion.
Career Statistics and Honours
Sooryavanshi’s numbers are already unusual: a strike rate of more than 210 in T20 cricket and records in almost every format he has played. The tables below show his main statistics and honours.
Medals and marks
| Mark | Detail |
|---|---|
| Youngest IPL debutant | 14 years 23 days, 19 April 2025 |
| Youngest IPL and T20 centurion | 101 off 38 v Gujarat Titans, 14 years 32 days |
| Fastest IPL hundred by an Indian | 35 balls, 2025 |
| Most sixes in an IPL season | 72 in 2026, ahead of Chris Gayle’s 59 in 2012 |
| Most runs by an uncapped batter in an IPL season | 776 in 2026, ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 626 in 2023 |
| Fastest to 100 T20 sixes | 515 balls, and the youngest to the mark at 15 years 43 days |
| Youngest India international | 15 years 99 days, 4 July 2026 |
| Youngest to score a fifty in international cricket | 50 off 19 balls v Zimbabwe, 15 years 118 days |
| Fastest List A fifty | 11 balls, India A, June 2026 |
| Fastest 150 in List A | 59 balls, December 2025 |
| Highest score in an ICC global tournament final | 175 off 80 balls, U19 World Cup final, 2026 |
| Youngest fifty in the Duleep Trophy | 92 off 81 balls, 15 years 157 days |
| Awards | Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2025; U19 World Cup Player of the Tournament 2026; IPL 2026 MVP, Orange Cap, Emerging Player, Super Striker, Super Sixes; TIME100 Next 2026 |
| Team honours | U19 World Cup 2026, Asian Games gold 2026, Duleep Trophy 2026 (East Zone) |
Career batting record
| Competition | Matches | Runs | Highest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL | 23 | 1,028 | 103 | Average 44.70, strike rate 228.95, 2 hundreds, 6 fifties, 96 sixes |
| T20Is | 10 | 295 | 81 | 2 fifties, debut 4 July 2026 |
| All T20 cricket | 44 | 1,772 | – | Average 41.20, strike rate 213.75, 4 hundreds, 8 fifties |
| List A | 13 (to mid-2026) | 564 | 190 | Strike rate 177, youngest centurion in the format |
| First-class | – | 399 | 93 | Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy, highest 93 for Bihar v Meghalaya |
T20I and T20 totals are as of the end of India’s tour of New Zealand in early November 2026 and will change as he plays.
International Career
Sooryavanshi earned his first senior India call-up in June 2026, aged 15, for the T20I tours of Ireland and England and the Asian Games. By November he had played 10 T20Is, scoring 295 runs with a best of 81.
Debut against England
After sitting out the series in Ireland and the rain-hit first T20I against England, he made his debut in the second T20I at Old Trafford on 4 July. He replaced Sanju Samson and, aged 15 years and 99 days, became India’s youngest international cricketer, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, and the youngest male T20I debutant. He scored 14 off 10 balls, followed by 13 and 15, and was left out of the final match of the series.
Player of the Series in Zimbabwe
In the first T20I in Harare on 23 July he scored 50 off 19 balls, becoming the youngest player to score a fifty in international cricket at 15 years and 118 days. He followed it with 20 off 9 balls and a career-best 81 off 49 balls (eight fours and four sixes) in the third match. He scored 151 runs at a strike rate of 196.10, was named Player of the Series and India won 3–0.
Asian Games gold
Sooryavanshi was in the India squad at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. He scored 38 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka and 15 off 9 balls in the final, when India beat Pakistan by 19 runs on 3 October. He is the youngest Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal.
Tour of New Zealand
India won the five-match T20I series 3–2. He sat out the first match and replaced the injured Ishan Kishan in the second, scoring 4 off 8 balls. In the third match in Wellington he was promoted to open and made 45 off 19 balls, sharing a first-wicket stand of 133 in seven overs with Abhishek Sharma, who scored 113 off 38. India won by six wickets and the powerplay total of 118 was a record for international T20s. He did not play the last two matches.
2026 Season and Results
2026 has been the biggest year of Sooryavanshi’s career so far, with a world title at U19 level, the IPL Orange Cap, his India debut and an Asian Games gold medal. These are the key moments.
175 in the Under-19 World Cup final
India beat England in the Under-19 World Cup final at Harare on 6 February, taking a record sixth title. Sooryavanshi scored 175 off 80 balls with 15 sixes, the highest individual score in any ICC global tournament final, and he put on 142 for the first wicket with captain Ayush Mhatre. His hundred took 55 balls. He finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 439 runs in seven innings at an average of 62.71 and was named Player of the Tournament.
IPL Orange Cap and a six-hitting record
Opening for Rajasthan Royals, Sooryavanshi scored 776 runs in 16 matches at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 237.30, the most in the season. He made 103 off 37 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, with 12 sixes and a hundred in 36 balls. In the Eliminator on 27 May he scored 97 off 29 balls, three runs short of Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL hundred, and passed Gayle’s season record of 59 sixes. He finished with 72, the highest in a season, and also set the record for the most powerplay runs in a season with 490. The Royals did not reach the final. He won the Orange Cap, the MVP award and the Emerging Player award.
94 off 29 balls for India A
In the final of the tri-series in Sri Lanka, he scored 94 off 29 balls for India A, including the fastest fifty in List A cricket, off 11 balls. Days later he was named in the India T20I squad.
Duleep Trophy with East Zone
Sooryavanshi was named vice-captain of East Zone for the 2026–27 Duleep Trophy. He scored 8 on his debut against North East Zone, took 2 for 11 with left-arm spin, and in the semi-final against Central Zone made 92 off 81 balls with seven fours and seven sixes, the youngest fifty in the tournament’s history at 15 years and 157 days. He also took over as captain for part of the match when Ishan Kishan was injured, becoming the captain of a senior domestic team at 15. East Zone later won the title against South Zone.
FAQ
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was born on 27 March 2011, so he is 15. He turns 16 on 27 March 2027.
He is famous for breaking age and speed records. He became the youngest player in the IPL at 14, the youngest centurion in IPL and T20 history, India's youngest international cricketer and the Orange Cap winner of IPL 2026.
His highest IPL score is 103 off 37 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026. His first IPL century was 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans in 2025.
He hit 72 sixes, the most in a single IPL season, passing the previous record of 59 held by Chris Gayle since 2012.
He plays for Rajasthan Royals, who bought him for ₹1.1 crore at the age of 13 before the 2025 season.
Yes. He made his T20I debut against England on 4 July 2026 aged 15 years and 99 days, the youngest in India's history. By early November he had played 10 T20Is and won Asian Games gold with the team.
He scored 175 off 80 balls against England in Harare on 6 February 2026, the highest score in any ICC global tournament final. India won their sixth Under-19 World Cup title.
He has named the West Indies batter Brian Lara as his inspiration.