Conventional wisdom suggests that a 13-year-old would struggle to even face deliveries bowled at speeds above 90 mph. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has challenged that assumption by striking bowlers such as Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Jofra Archer to all parts of the ground.In traditional cricket coaching, batters are taught to keep their hands close to the body during the backlift to maintain control over the bat swing. Sooryavanshi differs here as well. His backlift moves away from the body, going against what is often described as textbook technique.Still two-years younger than what Sachin Tendulkar’s age was at the time of his India debut, he has a bat-swing that reminds of Brian Charles Lara, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Yuvraj Singh; and like footballer Lamine Yamal, who has emerged as a teenage sensation at the highest level, Sooryavanshi’s age has rarely matched the stage and level he performs on.Talent could never be the question with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. It never was. With the 80-ball 175 knock against England in the Under-19 World Cup final on Friday, he also put to rest any talks of temperament too, with delivering on the biggest of stages.Sooryavanshi produced what can be counted among the most dominant innings in Under-19 World Cup history. His 175, which included 15 sixes, helped India post 411 for 9 against England in the final at Harare.England, under pressure after Sooryavanshi’s innings, were bowled out for 311 in 40.2 overs while chasing a target of 412 against India’s bowling attack.
Sooryavanshi tumbles records
The 14-year-old reached his century in 55 balls, becoming the second-fastest centurion in the history of the Under-19 World Cup.His innings is the highest individual score in an Under-19 World Cup final and came in the match that also produced the highest team total in a final of the tournament.Sooryavanshi reached his first fifty in 32 balls and continued at the same pace against the England bowlers. His second fifty came off 23 balls.Out of his 175 runs, 150 came through boundaries, with 15 sixes and an equal number of fours. During this phase, India’s scoring rate stayed close to 10 runs an over, and the projected total crossed 500 midway through the innings.He now holds the record for most sixes in a Youth ODI innings, surpassing his own mark of 14 sixes against UAE at ICCA Dubai in December.Sooryavanshi also owns the record for the fastest 150 in Under-19 cricket, reaching the mark in 71 balls. The previous record was held by England’s Ben Mayes, who took 98 balls against Scotland at the same venue earlier in the tournament.Vedant Trivedi, batting at the other end, faced only four deliveries between Sooryavanshi’s 100 and 150, underlining the speed at which the runs were scored.
Sooryavanshi’s rise
Sooryavanshi first came into wider attention in November 2024 when he became the youngest player to receive an IPL contract after Rajasthan Royals signed him for Rs 1.10 crore. He was 13 years and 243 days old at the time. By then, he had already represented India Under-19 and scored a century as an opener against Australia Under-19 in a four-day match in Chennai.One of the early highlights of his career was the 58-ball century against Australia Under-19, where he scored 104. At 13 years and 187 days, he became the youngest player to score a century in youth cricket, breaking the previous record held by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.In the following months, Sooryavanshi continued to add records. On April 19, 2025, he made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals against Lucknow Super Giants, hitting Shardul Thakur for a six over extra cover off his first ball. He scored 34 off 20 balls in that match.In his third IPL appearance, he scored a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans, whose bowling attack included Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma and Rashid Khan. The hundred was the second-fastest in IPL history, behind only Chris Gayle’s 30-ball century in 2013.In July 2025, Sooryavanshi recorded the fastest Youth ODI century at the time, reaching the milestone in 52 balls. That record was later broken by Pakistan’s Sameer Minhas, who scored a century off 42 balls against Zimbabwe Under-19.He was named Bihar’s vice-captain for the first two rounds of the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season in October. The decision followed his performances on India Under-19’s tour of Australia, where he provided quick starts and scored a 78-ball century in the first four-day match in Brisbane. He finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the series, with 133 runs in three innings as India won 2-0.In November 2025, Sooryavanshi scored 144 off 42 balls for India A against UAE in the Asia Cup Rising Stars. His century came off 32 balls and was then the joint-third fastest by an Indian in men’s T20 cricket.A few weeks later, he scored 171 off 95 balls against UAE Under-19 in the opening match of the Under-19 Asia Cup.At 14 years and 272 days, Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to score a century in men’s List A cricket. He achieved the feat while playing for Bihar against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He reached his century in 36 balls, later scoring the fastest 150 in men’s List A cricket off 59 balls. He was dismissed for 190 off 84 balls, which included 16 fours and 15 sixes.
Man of the tournament
Sooryavanshi scored 439 runs and took 1 wicket in the Under-19 World Cup and was named Player of the Tournament after India won their sixth Under-19 World Cup title on Friday.“I had faith in my skills that I can contribute in big games and today it happened,” Sooryavanshi said at the post-match presentation.At 14, Sooryavanshi is already a world champion. He has delivered on most opportunities given to him so far. But he’s still a kid. It’s important to give him space and not put too many expectations on him. Leave him freely and watch him take the cricketing world by storm.
