Joy of six: who is the young teen smashing IPL records?

Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, made his debut in style on Saturday

- LUKE BAKER

At the age of just 14, Vaibhav Suryavanshi made history by becoming the youngest cricketer to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and announced his arrival with a six off the first ball.

Playing for the Rajasthan Royals, the left-hander was selected for the clash with Lucknow Super Giants in place of Royals captain Sanju Samson and opened the batting alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal as they chased a target of 181.

He began in style, smashing the very first ball from Shardul Thakur over extra cover for six before hitting two more maximums in a knock of 34 off just 20 balls, as he shared an 85run opening partnership with Jaiswal.

Eventually, he was stumped by Rishabh Pant off the bowling of South Africa’s Aiden Markram and looked distraught as he left the field, although he undoubtedly confirmed that his future in cricket is very, very bright.

But who exactly is this teenage star and how has he risen to prominence so quickly?

Born in the state of Bihar, in northeast India in 2011 and growing up in the city of Samastipur, Suryavanshi quickly marked himself out as something of a cricketing prodigy. He was only four years old when his father, Sanjeev Suryavanshi, a farmer, noticed him smashing a plastic ball around with great power and timing.

By the age of 13, he was already representing India under-19s and scored a century against Australia under-19s off just 58 balls when opening the batting during a four-day game in Chennai in September 2024.