Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson praised 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, whom they secured at the IPL 2025 mega auction last month. The Royals signed the young talent for INR 1.1 crore after a fierce bidding battle with Delhi Capitals (DC).
Suryavanshi impressed with a 58-ball century in a red-ball match between India U19 and Australia U19 in Chennai, hitting 14 boundaries and four sixes. This made him the second-fastest to score a century in an Under-19 Test, just behind Moeen Ali’s 56-ball record set nearly 20 years ago.
Sanju mentioned that the entire Rajasthan management observed Suryavanshi’s batting in that match and quickly decided to bring him onto the team.
“I have seen his highlights. All of the people in the Rajasthan decision-making group saw him bat at the U19 Test match vs Australia in Chennai, where he scored a hundred of 60-70 balls.”
“The shots that he played there, it felt like, that’s something special and we felt like we have to have those kind of individuals in the side and see where they go,” Sanju Samson told AB de Villiers in a podcast via India Today.
Sanju Samson also emphasized Rajasthan’s culture of developing young talents, citing players like Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“But Rajasthan Royals have a history of doing this. They find out talents and make them champions. For example, there is a Yashasvi Jaiswal who came to RR as a youngster and now is a rockstar of the Indian team.”
“There is Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel – they all fall under that line. I think RR loves that kind of thing – yes, we want to win the IPL, but we also want to make sure that we are giving enough champions to Indian cricket. It will be exciting to meet him,” he added.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi is now the youngest cricketer to feature in List A cricket
The 13-year-old prodigy became the youngest player to debut in the Ranji Trophy last season, representing Bihar against Mumbai. He scored 31 runs across two innings, but Bihar lost by an innings and 51 runs. Suryavanshi recently set another milestone as the youngest player to debut in List A cricket, achieving the feat at 13 years and 269 days.
He surpassed Ali Akbar’s record, who debuted at 14 years and 51 days for Vidarbha. However, the young talent had a tough start in his first List A match, getting out for just four runs. Bihar was defeated by Madhya Pradesh by six wickets in that game.
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