Vaibhav Suryavanshi, aged 13 becomes youngest IPL player, lands INR 1.10 Crore deal
At the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction on Monday, November 25, 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was signed by the first champions, the Rajasthan Royals (RR). After a bidding battle between the Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, the left-handed batter’s base price of INR 30 lakh increased to INR 1.10 crore.
As the youngest player to join with an IPL team, Suryavanshi made history. He will have the incredible chance to interact with and learn from elite players like Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and captain Sanju Samson.
At the young age of four, the 2011-born began to demonstrate his cricketing ability. Sanjeev, Vaibhav’s father, saw his enthusiasm and made the decision to construct a little play space for him in the house’s backyard.
Vaibhav’s father enrolled him at a cricket academy in Samastipur, a neighbouring town, when he was nine years old. People in his immediate vicinity quickly realised that Vaibhav’s cricket skills were well beyond his years.
At the age of twelve, he received his first Ranji Trophy cap. More recently, he was selected for the India Under-19 team, who played four days in Chennai against a visiting Australian team. He scored an incredible century off just 58 balls in the opening match at the famous Chepauk. This was the second-fastest hundred in the world overall and the quickest by an Indian in the Youth Test. Additionally, at the Randhir Verma Under-19 ODI competition held in Bihar, Suryavanshi got a triple-century.
The adolescent had already made history by being the youngest cricket player to be selected for an IPL auction. However, joining a squad led by Rahul Dravid may undoubtedly help him advance in his career.
In a competition that provided selectors with a chance to choose the Indian team for the ICC U-19 World Cup 2024, he also played for the India A team against the Bangladesh and England U-19 sides.
In January of this year, Vaibhav made his first-class debut against Mumbai in Patna during Bihar’s Ranji Trophy 2023-24 Elite Group B match.
He was the second-youngest Indian to ever play in a Ranji Trophy match for Bihar and the youngest to make a first-class debut since 1986 at the age of 12 years and 284 days.
Vaibhav made his debut for India U-19 in a junior Test match against Australia in Chennai in September of this year. He was run out after hitting a remarkable 104 off 62 balls.
The Bihar batsman has only participated in one T20 match and five first-class games. The Royals management will want to help him hone his skills before he can blow up against some of the best bowlers in the world of cricket, so he won’t be thrown into the deep end right soon. At the RR nets, he will face elite bowlers like Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Jofra Archer, among others. The experience will undoubtedly improve his batting abilities.
