Vaibhav Sooryavanshi drops to 92 after breaking 57-year-old Duleep Trophy record

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi agonizingly fell eight runs short of a maiden Duleep Trophy century on Monday, but not before the 15-year-old broke a record that had stood for 57 years.

Playing for East Zone in the semi-final against Central Zone at the BCCI Center of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru, Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to score a fifty in the history of the Duleep Trophy. He reached the milestone in just 42 balls and sealed it with Saransh Jain’s sixth at the age of 15 years and 157 days.

After being run out for 40, Sooryavanshi made the Central Zone bowlers toil as he smashed boundaries all over the park. He batted on 81 and hammered Saransh Jain, who made his Test debut for India against Sri Lanka last week, for a four and a six to enter the nineties.

However, his dreams of a maiden Duleep Trophy hundred were dashed when he was caught by Arshad Khan on the second ball of the 26th over off Harsh Dubey, ending a beautiful knock of 92 off 81 balls. Along with Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sooryavanshi stitched together a 162-run opening stand, providing the East Zone with the perfect platform to build on. Remarkably, this marked his seventh 90s score in his career, alongside 11 centuries.

The previous record was held by Laxman Singh, who was 16 years and 23 days old when he scored a fifty in 1969. Piyush Chawla later became the second youngest to reach his half-century in 2005 at the age of 16 years and 307 days.

Sooryavanshi had another piece of history within reach. The century would make him the youngest Duleep Trophy centurion, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s 36-year-old record from the 1990/91 season at the age of 17 years and 262 days.

Earlier in the match, Sooryavanshi stepped in as captain for Ishan Kishan for a few overs as East Zone dismissed Central Zone for 266 on the opening day. Indian fast bowler Mukesh Kumar and fellow right-arm medium pacer Abhijit Sarkar scalped three wickets apiece to defeat the Central Zone in 80.1 overs.

The left-hander showed plenty of composure throughout his innings. Reaching the semi-finals after managing just eight runs on his Duleep Trophy debut, he set the pace alongside Easwaran to lay the foundation for East Zone’s dominance.

While he remained aggressive whenever the bowlers offered him an opening – against Aryan Pandey, Yash Thakur, Arshad Khan, Saransh Jain and Harsh Dubey – he also showed a willingness to spend time at the crease, which was absent on his debut.

This fifty was Sooryavanshi’s second in first-class cricket. His next half-century came in the previous season’s Ranji Trophy against Meghalaya when he reached the 50-run mark in just 33 balls.

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Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

31 Aug 2026 12:14 IST