Conventional wisdom suggests that a 13-year-old would have trouble even facing vans at speeds above 90 mph. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi challenged this assumption by hitting bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Jofra Archer to all parts of the ground.In traditional cricket training, batsmen are taught to keep their arms close to the body during the backswing to maintain control of the swing of the bat. Sooryavanshi also differs here. His lift moves away from the body and goes against what is often described as textbook technique.Still two years younger than Sachin Tendulkar’s age at the time of his India debut, he has a swing of the bat reminiscent of Brian Charles Lara, Harmanpreet Kaur and Yuvraj Singh; and like footballer Lamine Yamal, who emerged as a teenage sensation at the highest level, Sooryavanshi’s age has rarely matched the stage and level on which he performs.Talent cannot be a question for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. It never was. He also defied any talk of temperament with an 80-ball 175 against England in the Under-19 World Cup final on Friday and delivered on the biggest stage.Sooryavanshi produced what can be counted among the most dominant innings in U19 World Cup history. His 175, which included 15 sixes, helped India post 411 for 9 against England in the final in 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 is breaking records
The 14-year-old reached his century in 55 balls to become the second-fastest centurion in U19 World Cup history.His innings is the highest individual score in an U19 World Cup final and came in a match that also produced the highest team total in a tournament final.Sooryavanshi reached his first fifty in 32 balls and continued the same pace against the English bowlers. His second fifty came off 23 balls.Of his 175 runs, 150 came from boundaries, 15 sixes and the same number of fours. During this phase, India’s scoring rate was held close to 10 runs and the projected total crossed 500 at the halfway mark of the innings.He now holds the record for most sixes in a youth ODI innings when he surpassed his own mark of 14 sixes against the UAE at the ICCA Dubai in December.Sooryavanshi also holds 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 had taken 98 balls against Scotland earlier in the tournament at the same venue.Vedant Trivedi, batting at the other end, faced just four deliveries between Sooryavanshi’s 100 and 150, underlining the speed with which they were scored.
Sooryavanshi’s rise
Sooryavanshi first came to 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 million. He was then 13 years and 243 days old. By then he had already represented India under-19 and scored a century in the opener against Australia under-19 in a four-day match in Chennai.One of the early highlights of his career was a 58-ball century against Australia Under-19s, 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 months that followed, Sooryavanshi continued to add entries. On 19 April 2025, he made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals against Lucknow Super Giants when he hit Shardul Thakur to cover for an extra six on 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 feat in 2013.In July 2025, Sooryavanshi scored the fastest youth ODI century at the time, reaching the milestone in 52 balls. This record was later broken by Pakistan’s Sameer Minhas, who scored a 42-ball hundred against Zimbabwe Under-19s.In October, he was named Bihar’s vice-captain for the first two rounds of the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season. The decision followed his performances on India’s Under-19 tour of Australia, where he made quick starts and scored a 78-ball hundred 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 Asia Cup Rising Stars. His hundred came off 32 balls and he was then the third fastest Indian in men’s T20 cricket.A few weeks later, he scored 171 off 95 balls against the UAE Under-19s 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 this 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 1 wicket in the U19 World Cup and was named player of the tournament after India won their sixth U19 World Cup title on Friday.“I believed in my ability to contribute in big games and today it happened,” Sooryavanshi said at the post-match presentation.At 14, Sooryavanshi is already a world champion. So far, he has made the most of the opportunities given to him. But he is still a child. It is important to give him space and not place too many expectations on him. Let him loose and watch him take the cricket world by storm.
