Vaibhav Suryavanshi has etched his name into the history books as he has become the youngest-ever player to debut in an IPL match. The 14-year-old has made his debut during the Rajasthan Royals' clash against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. He comes in for regular captain Sanju Samson, who is out due to his injury in the last match. In Samson's absence, Riyan Parag is back leading the Royals.
"We were looking to bowl, it is a little bit warm under lights, should be better than the last time. Vaibhav the youngster comes in. It's been kinda tricky, we've been doing small bits right but we haven't been able to put a collective performance together, we've been having honest chats as a team. We love playing here, we know the conditions well, hope we can put that to good use," RR stand-in skipper Riyan Parag said at the toss.
Know who is Vaibhav Suryavanshi?
The 14-year-old was picked in the IPL 2025 mega auction for Rs 1.10 crore. Suryavanshi came into the headlines after he slammed a century for India U19 in an unofficial Test against Australia U19 in Chennai. The Bihar-born hit his century off just 58 balls, registering the fastest-ever hundred for the India U19 team in the red-ball format. Apart from this, Suryavanshi was also the youngest batter to hit an international century, aged 13. He finished his innings on 104 from 62 balls.
Vaibhav has played five first-class matches and one T20 game for Bihar. He has 100 runs to his name in 5 FC matches 41 being the highest. He has only 13 runs in the lone T20 in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Rajasthan. The Southpaw made his first-class debut in January 2024 in a Ranji Trophy elite match against Mumbai.
Coming back to the RR vs LSG clash, LSG captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bat first. "We're going to bat first, wicket is looking dry so we want to take advantage. No dew so why not bat first. General thought process was to take the positives. We are lacking in small areas, want to improve on those and take the game forward. Was good to get back into form and contribute. I was not worried about, knew it was round the corner. Sometimes it takes time and I got time in the last game. Prince comes in for Akash Deep," Pant said at the toss.