It was Delhi Capitals (DC) who made Vaibhav Suryavanshi acrorepati. Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) latest sensation, and indeed all of India’s, had come under the hammer in the IPL 2025 mega-auctions when he was only 13 years old.
DC were the first to raise the paddle, taking his price to ₹1 crore. The Royals added one more bid, the winner at ₹1.10 crore.
Suryavanshi is still four years away from being able to drive a car, but nothing stopped him from driving cricket balls. Or from driving the IPL 2025’s best bowling attack to despair as he smashed 101 off 38 balls for RR against Gujarat Titans (GT) on a manic Monday (April 28).
He earned his first crore at 13 and struck his first century in top-level cricket at 14. He became the youngest to score an IPL hundred at 14 years and 32 days, with his record-breaking 35-ball century. The previous record for youngest IPL centurion was held by Manish Pandey (19 years and 253 days), who reached three figures against now-defunct Deccan Chargers in 2009 while playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
The ceiling for what he might achieve in the rest of his teenage years is nowhere in sight.
Rajasthan Royals’ hopes of play-off qualifications remain slim despite their rampaging win against the Titans. But no one will be able to look away during their remaining games.
Suryavanshi has transcended IPL 2025.
Rahul Dravid: We thought it might be a good environment for him to grow
Back in November 2024, after the Royals had bought Suryavanshi, Rahul Dravid said, “Vaibhav just came to our trials and we were really happy with what we saw. I think he’s got some really good skills. So, we thought it might be a good environment for him to grow.”
No one really expected the teenager would get any game time. He would get excellent grooming under Dravid’s care, experience the team environment, and have access to top-class support staff. But that was supposed to be it.
And then Sanju Samson got injured, the Royals needed a batter, and Suryavanshi was striding out to face the highest-quality bowling he had ever faced in a competitive match. Not that it mattered to him, because the first ball he faced in the IPL was launched for six. Suryavanshi had arrived and made the cricket world sit up straight and take notice.
The breathtaking blitz against the Titans sealed the deal. Suryavanshi was batting as if T20 was the oldest format of the game and the way to play it was encoded in the batters’ DNA.
Nearly every ball bowled to him, from an international quality attack no less, was attacked ferociously. Not every ball went where he intended it to go, but that’s the nature of T20 batting anyway. And a 14-year-old was showing the world how it’s done. When the ball did go where Suryavanshi wanted to send it, it travelled at light speed.
“He takes on Jofra in the nets”
When the Royals’ batting coach Vikram Rathour was asked how Suryavanshi was off the field, he said, “He’s exactly like what you see on the pitch. I don’t think he’s intimidated by anybody. He’s one guy who takes on Jofra in the nets (laughs). Jofra is maybe one of the toughest bowlers to face in the nets because he’s so awkward, and he bowls quick. But he’s the one who really takes him on.”
Right from his IPL debut, one noticeable aspect of Suryavanshi’s batting was the power he was able to generate, even on offside strokes. At 14 years old, most players are happy to pat the ball into the offside. Their ambitions don’t even extend to hitting over cover. Suryavanshi has been clearing the fence.
“He’s got a great downswing if you want to go into technique. So that helps him generate this kind of power,” Rathour said.
“We saw him first time maybe four months back when he came for the trials. And from that day onwards, all of us knew that we’ve found something special. And it was on us to nurture him and bring him to this level. Lot of credit to him, that he kept his nerves. He has a solid head on his shoulders.”
Rathour, captain Riyan Parag and opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal spoke to the broadcaster after the match. All three, normally eloquent men, struggled to describe the enormity of what they had seen.
Suryavanshi seemed like the batting equivalent of a 155 kmph hostile short-pitch bowler in Test cricket.
No matter how well you prepare, speed defeats a batter’s reactions. And no matter how well you know your teenage teammate, youth defies words. Luckily, Suryavanshi’s bat has already done the talking.