Fourteen-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi stunned the watching world with an “unbelievable” 35-ball hundred in just his third game in the Indian Premier League.
Reacting to Suryavanshi’s stunning knock – the second-fastest century in IPL history, containing 11 sixes and seven fours – Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain compared the 14-year-old’s remarkable ascent to that of the game’s greatest-ever batter.
India’s Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut as a 16-year-old in 1989, going on to play 200 matches and amassing a record 15,921 runs. He also played 463 ODIs and leads the way with 18,426 runs.
Suryavanshi’s stunning IPL ton eclipses the emergence Sachin Tendulkar, says Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain
“It is unbelievable for a 14-year-old to do that,” Hussain said.
“Things like this do happen in India. You go back to when I was growing up and watching the great Sachin Tendulkar emerge on the scene [at 16 years old]. But this even surpasses that.”
Hussain added: “Everyone started to think, ‘what was I doing when I was 14?’
“I was sort of plinking it around for Essex U15s, trying to score some runs, and he’s scoring a hundred against some of the best bowlers in the world, off 35 deliveries, looking to the manor born.
“He looks like he’s got a big future ahead of him.”
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Vaibhav says it was a dream come true after he hit 101 off 38 balls in the IPL
Athers: Indian talent to keep coming down pipeline
Former England team-mate Michael Atherton, who climbed the youth ranks with Hussain before both made their England debuts aged 21, also gave his reaction to Suryavanshi’s stunning century.
“Incredible scenes the other night,” he said.
“I don’t know what you were doing at 14, Nas, but I know I wasn’t thrashing some of the best bowlers in the world around in a full stadium in the IPL. We weren’t hitting 11 sixes, I know that much.
“He looks a bit of a cool cat. He didn’t overly celebrate the milestone – he looked as though he was taking it all in his stride.
“The IPL tagline is ‘Where talent needs opportunity’, and there’s talent all around the country, clearly.
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Suryavanshi, the IPL’s youngest debutant, hits his first IPL delivery for a massive six, against Lucknow Super Giants
“These talents are going to keep coming down the pipeline. It’s not a ‘worrying’ sign, I don’t know whether that’s the right word, but it will keep everybody else on their toes because of the depth of talent India has as it is. And it just gets deeper and deeper.”
Joining Hussain and Atherton on the latest episode of the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, England fast bowler Mark Wood spoke of his shock at Suryavanshi’s knock – and how he might have combatted it.
“Taking on the top bowlers of the world at 14… I don’t know what I was doing at 14, but that definitely wouldn’t have been on my radar,” Wood said.
“There was one time where I played a club game a couple of years ago, and there was a young kid batting at 15, and I couldn’t bowl at him because I was frightened that I could hurt him or something.
“With this lad, it would be the exact opposite. I’d be putting the men back, bowling three bouncers [in an over]. I’m not holding back!”
Dravid: Suryavanshi not the finished article
Suryavanshi’s coach at Rajasthan, former India batter and head coach Rahul Dravid, says the young batting phenomenon will need support to handle overnight stardom.
“He’s only going to develop and he’s only going to get better. Nobody is saying he’s a finished article,” Dravid told an online press conference. “No one should be in a rush and proclaim him what he is not. He is what he is.
Suryavanshi’s 35-ball IPL hundred is only surpassed by Chris Gayle’s 30-ball ton
“He’s an exceptionally talented young player, who is working really hard on his skills and abilities, but he’s going to have to keep improving.”
Dravid added: “Recognising that this can happen and putting a certain level of support to navigate all of this attention and still allowing him that space to be a youngster is going to be important.
“That’s part of being a cricketer in this country – how to handle this.”
Who is Vaibhav Suryavanshi?
Suryavanshi became the youngest player bought in an IPL auction after being selected by Rajasthan Royals for £105,000.
His selection came just weeks after he smashed a 58-ball hundred for India U19s against Australia U19s in an unofficial Test in Chennai.
He has since hit U19 half-centuries against Sri Lanka and UAE, as well as 71 off 42 balls for Bihar against Broda in India’s domestic 50-over competition.
Suryavanshi has dazzled at the top of the order for Rajasthan in the IPL
Being born in 2011, he also created another record by becoming the first IPL cricketer born after the tournament began in 2008.
The previous youngest IPL debutant was Prayas Rai Burman, who featured in 2019 at 16 years and 154 days for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Watch every match from the 2025 IPL live on Sky Sports Cricket, up to and including the final on Sunday May 25.
