Vaibhav Suryavanshi: Rs 1.10-cr IPL contract for 13-year-old, and a rags-to-riches story

was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore at the IPL mega auction (Source: Rajasthan Royals)

A check with a BCCI insider confirms that Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s documents with regards to his age are in order. The Bihar boy was indeed all of 13 years and 243 days on the day he was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore at the IPL mega auction. At his age, counting the number of zeros in a crore can be difficult. This is life-changing money for Suryavanshi.

He isn’t eligible to play the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy because a player has to be a minimum of 14 years of age to be allowed to participate in that tournament. Suryavanshi is not 14 yet, but the IPL or the India U-19 team has no such restrictions. The teenager hogged the limelight after scoring a century (58 balls) against Australia U-19 in a four-day game in Chennai a couple of months ago, opening the batting for India U-19. It was a record-breaking effort, as he became the youngest player in age-group cricket to score a century. The previous record was held by the current Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.

IND vs AUS: India now have Optus triumph to hang alongside famous wins at the old WACA and Gabba

Suryavanshi was the youngest player ever to be registered for an IPL auction. He had a base price of Rs 30 lakh, but as he went under the hammer, a bidding war ensued between Royals and Delhi Capitals. Royals won it. Later, the franchise CEO Jake Lush McCrum explained the thought process behind signing up the youngster. “He has been to our high performance centre in Nagpur. He had trials there and really impressed our coaching set-up there,” McCrum said after the auction, adding: “He is an incredible talent and of course you have got to have the confidence so he can step up to the IPL level.”

Suryavanshi will share the dressing-room with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel. He has every right to be overawed in that set-up. The Royals management sees him as an investment for the future and the process will start to develop him.

Suryavanshi has already played five Ranji Trophy games for Bihar and he is currently playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. People have already started drawing comparisons with Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar. The latter was 15 years and 230 days when he made his first-class debut. Yuvraj was even younger, 15 years and 57 days. Like Yuvraj, Suryavanshi is also a left-hander, but he bats up the order.

RR Team in IPL 2025: Complete players list of Rajasthan Royals

Samastipur, Suryavanshi’s hometown, is about 100 kilometres off Patna. The journey began there under the tutelage of his father Sanjeev. A failed cricketer, Sanjeev turned to coaching and took his son under his wing. He had to sell land to meet the expense of his son's cricket. November 25 was a red-letter day for the entire family.

At Royals, Suryavanshi will get Rahul Dravid as his coach. It's not only about honing his skills under the legend. The association will also help the young player grow as a well-rounded individual.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz