Rising Indian batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi felicitated with ‘Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar’ by President Murmu

NEW DELHI: Rising Indian batting star Vaibhav Suryavanshi was felicitated with the ‘Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar’ by the President Droupadi Murmu on Friday for his scintillating batting performances for Team India in age-group cricket and for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which has seen him break plenty of records.

The 14-year-old left-handed batter has become the talk of the entire nation with his batting exploits, with many comparing his rise to Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar, who also started as a teen prodigy from Mumbai.

Suryavanshi, 14, who made history last year by becoming the youngest player to earn an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract after being bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore, has achieved plenty of milestones in a career that has taken off over the last year or so.

Before his maiden IPL appearance, he had cracked a 58-ball century for India in a four-day game against Australia U19 and had featured in the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in 2024, scoring 176 runs at an average of 44, with two fifties.

Suryavanshi made his IPL debut against Lucknow Super Giants in the absence of an injured skipper, Sanju Samson, smashing his first ball, bowled by Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur, for a huge six and scoring 34 in 20 balls. In just seven innings in his debut IPL, the 14-year-old got 252 runs at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of above 206, with a century and a fifty to his name. His century against the Gujarat Titans made him the youngest centurion in all of T20 cricket, and he also outclassed former Indian hitter’s record for the fastest IPL century by an Indian, reaching the milestone in just 35 balls, smashing seven fours and 11 sixes in his knock.

Later, after the IPL, during the India U19 team’s tour of England, the hard-hitting leftie smashed the fastest century in the U19 ODI format and became the youngest to do so, blasting a brutal 78-ball 143, comprising 13 fours and 10 sixes at a strike rate of 183.33. Suryavanshi’s ton came off 52 balls, surpassing Pakistan’s Kamran Ghulam’s 53-ball effort against England back in 2013. Suryavanshi was the top run-getter of the ODI leg of the series, with 355 runs in five innings at an average of 71.00, a strike rate of 174.01, with a century and fifty.

Suryavanshi’s graph continued to go upwards with a blistering 144 in just 42 balls against UAE A for India A during the Rising Stars Asia Cup this year. His century came in 32 balls, much faster than his IPL ton. This turned out to be the joint-third-fastest century for India in T20s. He top-scored in India’s semifinal run with 239 runs in four innings at an average of 59.75, at a strike rate of 243.87.

Last month, in his side’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy clash against Maharashtra, he became the youngest-ever to score a century in the tournament’s history, smashing a 61-ball 108, with seven fours and seven sixes against Maharashtra at a strike rate of over 177.

At 14 years and 272 days, Suryavanshi became the youngest player to hit a century in men’s List A cricket during the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26 Plate League fixture against Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday. It was Vaibhav’s first non-T20I ton in senior cricket, which came in just 36 deliveries. This was the teenager’s seventh List A game, after debuting against Madhya Pradesh in December 2025.

Additonally, Suryavanshi shattered former South African cricketer AB de Villiers’ record for the fastest 150 in men’s List A cricket. The 14-year-old Suryvanshi slammed reached the 150-run mark in 59 deliveries, surpassing de Villiers’ 64-ball milestone against the West Indies in 2015.

Suryvanshi departed after scoring 190 runs off 84 deliveries with the help of 16 fours and 15 sixes at an astounding strike rate of 226.19.

Earlier, Suryavanshi, who is in line to feature in India’s Under-19 World Cup campaign in Zimbabwe and Namibia, hammered a 95-ball 171 earlier this month at the Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE.

In 18 T20s, he has scored 701 runs at an average of 41.23 and a strike rate of 204.37, with three centuries and a fifty. In seven List-A games, Suryavanshi has smashed 322 runs in seven matches at an average of 46.00, with a strike rate of 157.84, including a century and fifty each. In eight first-class matches, Suryavanshi has scored 207 runs in 12 innings with just one fifty and an average of 17.25.

In 15 Youth ODIs for India, Suryavanshi has scored 767 runs in 15 matches at an average of 51.13 and a strike rate of 158.79, with two centuries and three fifties. In six Tests at the youth level, he has scored 331 runs in six matches at an average of 33.10, with a strike rate of above 136, two centuries and a fifty. (ANI)