We’ve all been there. We’re shadow batting as doe-eyed thirteen or fourteen year olds, dreaming of a day when we’re battering opposition attacks at will, wielding our willows like a cutlass. No one will be spared from our merciless onslaught. No bowler, however quick. No spinner, however wily.
In most cases, those dreams remain just that. But not if you answer to the name of Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The precocious 14 year old lit up the IPL, and put the world on notice in a manner unimaginable even in our wildest dreams.
Dreams turned reality
Some moments in sport are so surreal, so vibrant, they seem plucked from the realm of dreams rather than reality. Monday night offered one such miracle, stitched together by a boy barely into his teenage years. At 14 years and 32 days, Vaibhav Suryavanshi played an innings so breathtaking, it left the world spellbound.
Whisper it, but his explosion onto the cricketing stage evokes memories of a certain cherubic 15 year old destroying bowling attacks for Mumbai before making his debut for India soon after.
A comparison with legends
Much as one tries, it is hard to avoid comparing Suryavanshi with some of the greats of the game. He packs the power of Yuvraj Singh, the pomp and flair of Brian Lara, and wields his willow like a scimitar much like Lance Klusener would. In fact, one of his boundaries, scythed wide of long-off, was no more than 10-15 yards from the fielder, but he might as well have been in another zip code, for it raced past him in next to no time once it left Suryavanshi’s bat. Shades of Klusener ’99 indeed.
But leave the comparisons aside, for to do so is to be unkind to Suryavanshi himself. It is his own artistry that shines brightest, a combination of pure instinct and youthful audacity. Watching him hook Ishant Sharma, a veteran whose heroics had graced cricketing arenas before Suryavanshi was even born, was witnessing the inevitable clash of eras — and the triumph of the new over old.
The arena shimmered with anticipation and then exploded into roars as Vaibhav sent ball after ball sailing into the night, making a chase of 200 plus look like child’s play. Every shot bore the hallmark of genius: balance, timing, and fearlessness. One moment he was swiveling to dispatch a short ball for six; the next, dropping to his knee, breakdancer-like, to swat Washington Sundar over square leg. And when he drove a perfectly good Prasidh Krishna delivery deep over long-off by simply rocking back in his crease to make space, it was clear — we were watching a generational talent take flight.
By the time he reached his half-century off just 17 balls — the quickest of IPL 2025 — the crowd was already in raptures. But Vaibhav was only getting started. A brutal assault on debutant Karim Janat, yielding a staggering 30 runs in one over, pushed the spectacle into legendary territory. Finally, when a short ball from Rashid Khan was muscled over midwicket to complete his century off just 35 balls, the world stood still. Helmet off, cherubic smile glowing under the floodlights, Suryavanshi looked every bit the phenomenon he had just proven to be.
The Records Broken by Vaibhav Suryavanshi:
- Youngest Centurion in Men’s T20 Cricket: At 14 years and 32 days, Vaibhav shattered Vijay Zol’s previous record.
- Second-Fastest IPL Century: His 35-ball century trails only Chris Gayle’s 30-ball blitz in 2013.
- Fastest IPL Century by an Indian: He broke Yusuf Pathan’s 37-ball mark, set back in 2010.
- Most Sixes by an Indian in an IPL Innings: 11 towering hits, matching Murali Vijay’s record and setting a new high for Rajasthan Royals.
- Highest Partnership for RR: Alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav stitched a 166-run stand, surpassing RR’s previous best.
- Highest Percentage of Runs in Boundaries for a Century: A jaw-dropping 93.06% of his 101 runs came via boundaries.
- Youngest to a T20 Fifty: His whirlwind half-century also made him the youngest to cross 50 in a T20 match, overtaking Hassan Eisakhil.
And there’s more: RR’s highest-ever powerplay total (87), their biggest-ever chase against Gujarat Titans, and Karim Janat conceding the most runs ever in a debut over — all spurred by Suryavanshi’s dream knock.
Even before the IPL, Vaibhav had been sending shockwaves through youth cricket: a 58-ball century against Australia U-19s, two half-centuries in the U-19 Asia Cup, and a triple-century in domestic U-19 cricket. RR, having spotted his potential early, nurtured him through their high-performance centre, and were handsomely rewarded.
But beyond the records and accolades, it is the imagery that remains. The wide smile. The free-flowing bat. The boy who turned a professional sport, with all its cynicism and weight, back into the boundless, joyous thing it once was.
In Vaibhav Suryavanshi, cricket hasn’t just found another prodigy. It has found a story — a story that reminds us why we fall in love with the game in the first place.
