Author-actor Joan Collins once said, “Age is…totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a wine bottle.” Both Virat Kohli (37) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (15) have proved Collins right. In 2007, three major cricket stars- Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly-opted out of the first T20 World Cup. The reason was they felt the frenetic version of the game was best suited to youngsters.
Over the years that line of reasoning was occasionally refuted. CSK (Chennai Super Kings)’s ‘Dads Army’s triumph (led by Dhoni) in 2018 and in 2021 are examples. But Sunday night, RCB’s aged players provided the viewpoint’s most triumphant negation. For two consecutive seasons now, Virat Kohli, Bhuavaneswar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya –all 35 or above- have produced consistent performances to exemplify Collins.
At the same time Vaibhav, the child prodigy, was felicitated on the same Sunday night at the same Ahmedabad venue for emerging as most valuable player and the player of the series by scoring the maximum of 776 runs more than anyone else. He smashed 72 sixes overtaking Jamaican hitter Chris Gayle’s record of 69 maximums in one IPL season set in 2012. “What a phenomenal player Vaibhav is? Great entertainment, young man! New six machine,” Gayle wrote on X. Vaibhav’s two 90s in his last two innings unveiled different facets to his game. His 97 against SRH, where he was one stroke short of breaking Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL ton, was vastly different in approach from his 96 against GT in the next game. The first was hitting and more hitting with reckless abandon, the second showed a lot of maturity and patience and his willingness to play a waiting game.
Vaibhav’s father Sanjeev had a dream
Rajasthan Royal’s scout Samar Qadri looked at the 13 year old boy introduced to him with wonder. He bowled at him to be excited at the end of the day that he discovered a boy who could be king. Qadri told the team management of RR that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is no ordinary player. Vaibhav joined the RR when he was 13 and started playing for the franchise when he was 14 and the world is looking at him with a lot of appreciation when he was barely 15.
Vaibhav hailed from Bihar, a state not known for politics and poverty but not sports. He is from a village called Tajpur, near Samastipur. He was born into a middleclass family which is in gold and jewelry business. They are not very rich but had enough to meet both ends. Sooryavanshi’ s father, Sanjeev had a bollywood dream. He landed in Mumbai when he was 19. He did odd jobs like a bouncer at a night club, as a janitor in the city’s port. In spare time, he went to Oval maidan where young kids are seen playing cricket wearing pads and helmets. He watched for hours a few of them who were very good. Then, realizing that his bollywood dream is only a dream, Sanjeev decided that he is too old to start learning cricket but vowed to make his son or daughter a cricketer. He married and settled in a job in his village.
Samastipur had humble sports infrastructure. It is about fifteen kilometers from his village. Sanjeev took young Vaibhav to a reputed coach in the town, Brajesh Jha, a former district level cricketer. Vaibhav was just eight years old. Brajesh said “Vaibhav has natural movements, was flexible even though he was chubby and he learnt things very fast.” Saanjeev was not satisfied with the environment at Samastipur. He took Vaibhav to Gen Next Academy in Patna in the weekends where there is competitive atmosphere. There Vaibhav was introduced to coach Manisha Ojha who played for Bihar in Ranji trophy. Ozha observed the same talent in Vaibhav as Brajesh. “There is no need to teach him anything twice. He is a very fast absorber. He learns very fast,” said Ojha. Vaibhav is matured, thinks like a person four or five years older than him. He is hard working, disciplined and well behaved. He speaks in a very measured way.
He has aggression and patience too
Until he played against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator, one would think that he blasts the balls as they come in the same way as Abhishek Sarma. But in his game against Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier, he played according to the need of the match. He played every ball judiciously. He hit the 14th delivery for a six. He took more than thirty balls to make his fifty. Then he raced to 96 in less than fifteen balls. Icon of Indian cricket and a star batsman like Sachin Tendulkar praised him to the sky. “Vaibhav’s bat swing has been outstanding. What’s even more remarkable is how beautifully he clears his front foot to create room for balls aimed at his legs. This freedom allows him to play the way he does,” said Sachin in X post after his 97 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Zubin Bharucha is a coach who worked with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at RR. He says Vaibhav hands and technique remind him of Brian Lara, Vaibhav’s idol, and head of Tendulkar.”The boy is aware of his game and he has a sharp head. He has the same relationship with time and space like most great batsmen. He has the ability to strip it all in slow motion. The fundamentals are strong to suggest that this bubble will not burst. Eyes, balance, hand, power, bat-swing, dreamy contact-his game has a fearful symmetry,” Bharucha said. Kumar Sangakkara, chief coach of RR, has simple advice to Vaibhav: ‘Just enjoy the game.’
Honing the skills near his home in village
Adjoining his house in his village, Vaibhav has a practising space. Other young boys of the village adore him. They wait to see him when he happened to visit his home. Whenever Vaibhav is at home, he invariably spends a few hours every day in honing his batting skills. It is a rectangular cage with a couple of plastic stumps intact. Even when Vaibhav is not at his village, his friends and family members take care of his net as though it is a very holy spot.
There are many famous cricketers, beside Ishant Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who were born in Bihar. MS Dhoni, a celebrated captain of Indian cricket, was born in Ranchi when it was part of Bihar. Ishan Kishan was born in 1998 in Patna. Since Bihar Cricket Association was banned by the BCCI, Kishan had to move to Jharkhand for playing domestic cricket. Kishan, who plays for SRH, has a lavish apartment at Patna costing crores of rupees. Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar was born in 1993 in Gopal Ganj in Bihar. However, he played domestic cricket in West Bengal. Saurabh Tiwari was born in 1998 in Jamshedpur when it was part of Bihar. Like Dhone, he also represents both Bihar and Jharkhand. Former Indian wicket keeper Saba Karim was born in 1967 in Patna, Bihar. He represented both Bihar and West Bengal in domestic cricket. Kirti Azad was born in Purnea, Bihar, in 1959. But he played domestic cricket for Delhi. Shahbaz Nadeem was born in 1999 in Bokaro in undivided Bihar and represented both Bihar and Jharkhand. Though there are cricket celebrities born in Bihar, they did not represent solely Bihar for various reason. Now it is aggressive batsmen Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Kishan and fast bowler Sakib Hussain who hail from Bihar and impressed the viewers most in 2026 IPL. He was again the youngest player to clinch the Orange Cap.
Impossible to replicate Vaibhav
Bowlers are already celebrating Vaibhav’s dismissal with a maniacal glee reserved for the best in the game. The boy along with paceman Jofra Archer dragged a mediocre RR to the playoffs. RCB retained the trophy, but this IPL will be remembered as Vaibhav’s. Ben Gardner of Wisden posted jokingly on X, “Three nineties in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi,s last four innings. Finally, we’ve found his weakness (to score)!” Vaibhav has launched a new way of batsmanship. “The future players will try to bat like him. And fail. It is impossible to replicate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi,” wrote Avijit Ghosh in his column in The Times of India on Tuesday. Vaibhav is a kid who is already a king. Let us salute him.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
I am glad to hear about Vaibhav Soorya Vamshi’s performance in IPL at the age of 15 years. Viewing at his performance….spell bound it is. No doubt he is going to be a great player in Indian Team. All Good Lucky to Vaibhav Soorya Vamshi.