Vaibhav Sooryavanshi barely has time to process one achievement before another arrives. Having already made his mark in the IPL and international cricket, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi now faces another major challenge: his first five-day match.
At just 15, this young player has competed on the biggest domestic stage, broken IPL records, made his international debut, excelled in the Under-19 World Cup, and established himself across T20, List A, and first-class cricket. On Sunday, he will add another milestone to his impressive early career, playing his first five-day first-class match.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will take the field for East Zone against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, where the 15-year-old has been named vice-captain under Ishan Kishan’s leadership. This marks yet another challenge in a career defined by repeatedly stepping into unfamiliar situations and finding ways to make an impact.
Despite his first-class experience, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has previously played only four-day matches, whether for Bihar in the Ranji Trophy, for India Under-19, or for East Zone. Consequently, the Duleep Trophy final will be his first experience of a five-day first-class match, and East Zone will look to him to play a pivotal role in the top order.
Another Format, Another Test for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
The youngster’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances has been tested multiple times this year. While his first-class statistics appear modest compared to his stellar white-ball record- 347 runs in 10 matches, including two half-centuries- his performance in the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone offered an encouraging glimpse of his potential in the longer format.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 92 off 81 balls in the first innings and then contributed a crucial 40 runs during the run chase, helping East Zone defeat Central Zone by four wickets and secure a spot in the Duleep Trophy final for the first time since the 2012-13 season. With his knock of 92, he became the youngest player in Duleep Trophy history to score a half-century, at the age of 15 years and 157 days, breaking a 57-year-old record.
Ishan Kishan, who will captain East Zone in the final, believes the youngster is mature enough to handle this new challenge.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Saturday, Kishan said, “I think Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is very sensible for a 15-year-old. He knows what he is doing; he has faced such situations before, and I have heard him interacting with other players. While there is a difference between the 3- or 4-day cricket he has played previously and this 5-day game, I feel we just need him to score runs, and he is ready to do that.”
Ishan Kishan was also impressed by the youngster’s contribution in the semi-final.
“I think he has been doing a great job so far. He played a pivotal role in the last match; the pitch wasn’t ideal, yet he played some shots that helped us build an early partnership,” he said. He added, “That was crucial during our run chase. He is doing everything right at the moment, and should the need arise, we are always there to support him.”
From a player scoring an IPL century at 14 to India’s youngest international cricketer…
The scale of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rise becomes even clearer when looking at his journey over the past two seasons. At the age of 13, he became the youngest player to secure an IPL contract when Rajasthan Royals bought him for ₹1.1 crore ahead of IPL 2025. A year later, at 14, he became the youngest player to score a century in men’s T20 cricket, smashing 101 off 38 balls against Gujarat Titans. He scored 252 runs in seven matches that season at a strike rate of 206.55.
Then came IPL 2026, where the youngster took his game to a new level. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 776 runs in 16 matches at a staggering strike rate of 237.30, including one century and five half-centuries. His 72 sixes broke the record for the most sixes in a single IPL season; he also won the Orange Cap and the MVP award.
Subsequently, he became India’s youngest male player to make an international debut and made an immediate impact in the T20I series against Zimbabwe, scoring 151 runs across three matches and winning the ‘Player of the Series’ award. In his six T20I matches so far, he has scored 193 runs at a strike rate of 189.21.
His ‘List A’ statistics are equally impressive: 564 runs in 13 matches (including an innings of 190), with an average of 43.38 and a strike rate of 176.80. Meanwhile, in the Under-19 World Cup, he scored 439 runs and was named ‘Player of the Tournament’.
