The Rajasthan Royals opener grabbed headlines by scoring the fastest century by an Indian in the IPL
Ashish Pant29-Apr-20254:12
Jaffer: Have advised Suryavanshi to always play his natural game
[Has it ever happened that you’ve hit the first ball you’ve faced for six]?Vaibhav Suryavanshi is seen asking this question – much before his IPL debut – to a fellow Rajasthan Royals (RR) player in a video posted by the franchise. On April 19, the 14-year old lived this dream when he flat-batted Shardul Thakur over the extra-cover fence off his first ball on IPL debut.Suryavanshi has played just three games in the IPL. But, he’s already wowed people in every step of the way, with his six-hitting skills, with his bat speed, with his ability to rip apart bowlers of international repute. On Monday, he took down a Gujarat Titans bowling unit which had in their ranks Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar and R Sai Kishore – all bowlers who have at least one international cap, to become the youngest men’s T20 centurion. It was also the second-fastest hundred in IPL history, off 35 balls.Related
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But who is this 14-year-old sensation?Suryavanshi hails from a village named Tajpur in the Samastipur district of Bihar. With facilities limited in Samastipur, Suryavanshi travelled close to 90 kms almost every day to Patna along with his father, Sanjiv Suryavanshi. It was hardly easy, but backed by his father, he was determined to make it big.Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, became the second-fastest centurion in IPL history•BCCI”I am what I am because of my parents,” Suryavanshi said in a video on the official IPL site after his 38-ball 101 in Jaipur. “My mother used to sleep for three hours, wake up at 2am, prepare food for me. My father quit his job, my elder brother took over the job. We had limited means, but my father backed me to succeed. Whatever results you are seeing today, my success is all because of my parents.”Suryavanshi’s rise has been swift. He was just 12 years and 284 days old when he made his first-class debut for Bihar in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season. Before that, he had left a good impression at the Vinoo Mankad Trophy for Bihar, which got him a spot in the Under-19 Quadrangular series in late 2023, also involving Bangladesh, England, and two India teams, A and B, in Mulapadu, Andhra Pradesh.Watch – Highlights of Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s record-breaking hundred on JioHotstar (only in India)Playing for India B U-19, Suryavanshi scored 53 against England U-19 in the first game, followed by 75 against Bangladesh U-19s. It was during this second game that former India opener Wasim Jaffer, who was the head coach of Bangladesh U-19 then, spotted him and was “taken aback” by the youngster.5:27
‘Otherworldly’ Suryavanshi wows Bishop, Aaron
“I was really impressed that somebody so young has been picked and then also he got runs, “Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo. “I was actually pleasantly surprised, especially coming from Bihar.”Jaffer and Suryavanshi regularly chatted about batting, with Jaffer offering him tips on building an innings. “He used to keep messaging every now and then whenever he felt like asking certain things or when he felt like wanting to ask about his batting,” Jaffer said. “He is somebody who plays free-flowing cricket. But suddenly, when you go to a higher level, sometimes you are scared, especially when somebody is so young. So, he might think that he needs to change certain things or that he needs to play differently.Vaibhav Suryavanshi with Wasim Jaffer•ESPNcricinfo Ltd”I always encouraged him to be positive and play positive cricket. If the ball is there in your arc, and you feel you can hit it, I always told him to back yourself, irrespective of what standard of cricket you are playing. That’s how our relationship started.”Not that I personally coached him or anything. I won’t take undue credit.”Suryavanshi was picked up in the IPL 2025 auction for INR 1.1 crore after impressing batting coach Vikram Rathour and director of high performance Zubin Bharucha at RR during trials. He didn’t play the first seven games of the season and only came into the team because of an injury to captain Sanju Samson, making him the youngest IPL debutant.Suryavanshi had also messaged Jaffer before his IPL debut against Lucknow Super Giants.5:13
What’s the best way to handle Suryavanshi?
“He messaged me and said, ‘Sir, I am getting a chance’. I, in fact, told him to take seven to eight balls because there is so much adrenaline when you play in the IPL for the first time. Take a bit of time, let your nerves settle down. Sometimes you play certain shots because the occasion gets the better of you. But he went out there and played first ball for six. So it’s not that he takes every advice of mine. But he is a wonderful kid. And he is talented. In this format, for him to hit 11 sixes in IPL, says so much about his ability and talent.”Don’t get me wrong. A player of his ability, the manner in which he plays, he is going to fail sometimes, and he will look bad when he gets out. But when he comes good, he is a match-winner like yesterday. So we’ve got to take the good with the bad.”Jaffer also believes Suryavanshi has what it takes to become an all-format player. “He has got all the ability and he has got all the time. He has shown what he can do in this format [T20s]. And I am sure he will adapt to one-day cricket and four-day cricket pretty soon. I believe he has got a good defence as well. It’s just playing that format a little bit more.”He still has a long way to go but for now, there is obvious celebration in the Suryavanshi household back home in Samastipur.”He has made our village, Bihar and the whole of India proud. We could not be happier and are celebrating,” his father Sanjiv said in a video released by the Bihar Cricket Association. “I want to thank the Rajasthan Royals who worked on him extensively in the last three-four months. I want to thank head coach Rahul Dravid and the rest of the support staff for improving Vaibhav’s game. He himself has worked very hard on his game and this hundred is a result of that.”