14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi becomes youngest ever IPL cricketer

JAIPUR, India — The youngest cricketer to debut in Indian Premier League history at age 14 also made a splash on Saturday.

Opening batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi appeared as an impact substitute for Rajasthan Royals and boldly scored 34 runs off 20 balls, including a first-ball six over extra cover. He hit three sixes and two boundaries overall until he was out stumped.

His stand of 85 with Yashasvi Jaiswal gave Rajasthan’s chase a great start but their team lost to the Lucknow Super Giants by two runs.

Suryavanshi replaced Rajasthan’s injured skipper Sanju Samson and created a unique record — born in 2011, he became the first IPL cricketer born after the tournament’s inception in 2008.

Suryavanshi hails from Bihar and made headlines in the player auction; Rajasthan snapped him up for $1.1 million after an intense round of bidding.

The youngster has a triple hundred to his name in under-19 zonal cricket, but his five first-class matches have fetched meager returns.

The previous youngest IPL debutant was 16-year-old Prayas Burman in 2019 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Mujeeb ur Rahman is the youngest international cricketer in the IPL, debuting at 17 in 2018 for Punjab Kings. NBC News