Bihar cricketer Vaibhav Suryavanshi sent shock waves across the cricketing world when he was signed up for an unprecedented Rs 1.1 crore by Rajasthan Royals at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, aged only 13 years. Vaibhav is only studying in middle-school but already creating waves in Under-19 international cricket level, which didn’t go unnoticed by the IPL franchises.
Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals fought tooth-and-nail over the young star before the Royals led by head coach Rahul Dravid brought home the youngster. At 13 years and 243 days, Vaibhav is the youngest player to be signed in IPL history.
The youngster had first shot into prominence when he became the youngest batter (13 years, 288 days) to record an international century, smashing 104 off 62 balls in a Youth Test for India Under-19 against Australia U-19 in Chennai. The left-hander’s century came in 58 balls, making it the fastest Youth Test hundred by an Indian and the second-fastest overall in the world.
He is now preparing for an Under-19 Asia Cup 2024 match against India’s arch-rivals Pakistan which takes place at the Dubai International Stadium this Saturday (November 30).
“Woh ab sirf humra bituwa nahi pura Bihar ka bituwa hai (He is not just my son now but entire Bihar’s son),” Vaibhav’s father Sanjiv told PTI news agency from Dubai.
“My son has worked hard. At the age of 8 years, he excelled at U-16 district trials. I would take him for his cricket coaching to Samastipur and then take him back,” he added.
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Here’s how the 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi – the youngest ever player to be bought in the auction – joined #RR #TATAIPL | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/eme92pM7jy
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 25, 2024
Sanjiv Suryavanshi revealed that he had to sell his land in Bihar and cleaned sulabh toilets to fund his son’s cricketing dream.
“Everything is coming as a flashback to me. I was a cricket tragic myself. But had to kill that dream when I moved to Mumbai at the age of 19 to earn money. I did a lot of jobs. I worked as a bouncer in a nightclub in Colaba, worked at a Sulabh toilet,” Sanjiv was quoted as saying by Indian Express newspaper.
“All those 12 years I spent in Mumbai, I used to think when my luck would change. Now my son has made it a reality. I don’t know what the future holds but after this, I won’t have to borrow money from anyone for his cricket,” he added.
Vaibhav first made his mark earlier this year when he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar, aged just 12, making him one of the youngest ever to play in the domestic tournament.
Father Sanjiv is pleased that his son will play under the tutelage of his favourite player Rahul Dravid, who is now head coach of Rajasthan Royals. “Over the years, Royals have groomed the youngsters. Be it Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel or Riyan Parag, all are products of the Rajasthan Royals franchise. I sincerely hope that Vaibhav will also follow the same path,” Sanjiv said.
Vaibhav’s childhood coach Manoj Ojha shared that former India batter and head of National Cricket Academy (NCA) VVS Laxman also rates him very highly. “VVS Laxman rates him very highly and monitors his development. He said last year that the next two years are going to be very crucial for Vaibhav. If someone like VVS Laxman is praising him, then there must be something special in the kid,” says Ojha.
