The Indian Premier League witnessed history on April 19 as Rajasthan Royals handed a debut to youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi, making him the youngest player to play in the history of the IPL.
Vaibhav, who turned 14 on March 27, 2025, was named on the list of Impact Players against the Lucknow Super Giants for Saturday’s game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
He comes in place of skipper Sanju Samson, who was ruled out due to the side strain injury he sustained in the previous game against the Delhi Capitals.
With RR bowling first, Vaibhav is expected to play a part in the second innings.
Interestingly, the 14-year-old was born in 2011, three years after the Indian Premier League came into existence in 2008. He also becomes the first player to feature in an IPL game who was born after the inception of the tournament.
Let us take a look at the list of the youngest players to have debuted in the IPL prior to Vaibhav’s historic day.
Youngest IPL debutants
1. Prayas Ray Barman (RCB, 2019) – 16 years and 157 days old
2. Mujeeb Ur Rahman (PBKS, 2018) – 17 years 11 days
3. Riyan Parag (RR, 2019) – 17 years 175 days
4. Sarfaraz Khan (RCB, 2015) – 17 years 177 days
5. Abhishek Sharma (DC, 2018) – 17 years, 251 days
Who is Vaibhav Suryavanshi?
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, born in Bihar’s Samastipur district, made history at the IPL 2025 auction after he became the youngest cricketer to bag a deal in the cash-rich tournament at just 13-years-old. RR bought him at the auction for ₹1.1 crore.
The franchise had been tracking the meteoric rise of the youngster who had already represented India Under-19 by the time he was bought at the IPL auction.
He rose to prominence after he smashed a 58-ball century in a four-day game against Australia’s Under-19 side. This was the second fastest ton in U-19 Tests, only behind Moeen Ali who’s record of 56 balls stands till date.
He also played a pivotal role in India’s run to the final of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup tournament in 2024. He scored 176 runs at an average of 44.
The young batsman has also scored a triple-century – an unbeaten 332 – in the Randhir Verma Tournament, which is an U-19 cricket competition in his home state of Bihar.
His other records include becoming the youngest Indian player to feature in List A cricket and the youngest debutant in Ranji Trophy history at the age of 12 years and 284 days.
He has also featured for Bihar in the 2023 edition of the Cooch Behar Trophy, where he scored a cracking 151 off just 128 balls that contained 22 fours and 3 sixes.
The teenager also played in a quadrangular series involving India U19 A, India U19 B, England U19 and Bangladesh U19, scoring 53, 74, 0, 41, and 0 in the tournament.
Explosive batsman
In an earlier interview, the 14-year-old’s father described his son as an explosive batsman and expressed his confidence that Vaibhav will soon don the Indian jersey. He also revealed that RR had called up the 14-year-old batsman for trials the franchise held in Nagpur, in 2024.
“Rajasthan Royals had called him for trials in Nagpur. Vikram Rathour sir (batting coach) gave a match situation where he had to score 17 in an over. Bituwa ne 3 chakka mara. Trials mein aat chakka aur char chauwaa mara (He smashed three sixes. At trials, he hit eight sixes and four fours).
“He just wants to play cricket and nothing else. A few years back he loved Doremon, not any more,” the proud father is quoted as saying.
Last week, RR’s head coach Rahul Dravid said he was prepared to give the teenager his IPL debut and expressed trust in the explosive batsman’s progress with the team.
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