Nature has endowed this boy with plump, cherubic cheeks that still retain their baby fat at 14. It has also gifted him a swing as elegant as it is destructive. The wrist cocks near the ear before the bat sweeps through a full arc, delivering the ball an almighty thwack. These visuals are not fleeting—they are a glimpse of the years to come, years in which the cricketing world will watch, wide-eyed.
This boy’s game belies his age. And after yesterday’s whirlwind 35-ball century for the Rajasthan Royals against the Gujarat Titans—an innings that made adjectives seem inadequate—Vaibhav Suryavanshi has become the toast of the nation and the talk of the cricketing world.
What wait for your eyes to set? What assess the bowler? What gauge the conditions?
Not for me, he seems to say.
Stories have begun to surface about the boy who has made hitting first-ball sixes feel routine. Here is one. Under the mentorship of VVS Laxman, Vaibhav had earned a spot in the U-19 quadrangular series against England and Bangladesh. During one of the matches, he was inconsolable after being run out, convinced he had missed a chance to make a mark. Laxman, though, reminded him: at this level, it’s not just runs that count—but the presence, the technique, the temperament.
And going by early evidence, his career might not only be sustainable—it might be extraordinary.
The foundation of Vaibhav’s batting is improbably solid for someone just 14. It is the result of years of unrelenting training: facing 600 balls a day since the age of 10. His father, Sanjeev Suryavanshi, packed ten extra tiffin boxes every day for 16- and 17-year-old net bowlers, who would tire themselves out bowling to his son.
Back in Mumbai, while Sanjeev juggled jobs—working as a nightclub bouncer, cleaning toilets at Sulabh complexes, or hauling cargo at the port—he would watch kids playing in the storied maidans and dream that one day, his own son would be among them.
So, in his modest village in Bihar and built a net facility in their backyard. He bowled to Vaibhav for hours each day, and when fatigue set in, he hired unemployed local boys to bowl in exchange for a meal. Vaibhav, for his part, never wanted to leave the nets.
From a forgotten corner of Bihar—a state where cricket is constantly at war with itself, torn between battling associations—this boy emerged. Grit, hunger, and an obsession with the game carried him to the spotlight.
There was no fallback plan. According to reports, Sanjeev sold his farmland to finance his son’s cricketing journey. That gamble, made with nothing but faith and fire, has been repaid in full.
That relentless commitment has since crystallised into the boy the cricketing world now sees—radiant with confidence, brash with intent, and ready to take on the world. Just as he promised his childhood coach Manish Ojha to beat the crap out of the Lucknow Giants bowlers. And how he delivered. Ojha believes the boy is at least 3-4 years ahead of anyone his age. He has an incredible grasping power and spends hours mastering his skills, which was on full display on Monday night.
IPL 2025 (First 3 Matches)
• Runs: 151
• Average: 75.50
• Strike Rate: 222.05
• Highest Score: 101*
• His first scoring shot in the IPL was a six off Shardul Thakur
ACC U-19 Asia Cup 2024–25
• Runs: 176 in 5 matches
• Highest Score: 76*
• 7th-highest run-getter in the tournament
T20 Debut (SMAT 2024)
• Represented Bihar
• Played 1 match
Also Read: Ambuja Cements crosses 100 MTPA Capacity https://www.vibesofindia.com/ambuja-cements-crosses-100-mtpa-capacity/
