Sooryavanshi becomes youngest T20 captain but falls cheaply to ex-RR pacer in Bihar's SMAT 2026 opener

India's 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi walked out for the coin toss and scripted history. Sooryavanshi became the youngest captain in men's T20 cricket history when he turned up for Bihar against Saurashtra on the opening day of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026. Before Sooryavanshi, the record was held by Croatia's Zach Vukusic. The Croatian was 17 years and 311 days old when he captained in T20s.

Sooryavanshi won the coin toss at Holkar Stadium, Indore, against Jaydev Unadkat. The young southpaw opted to bat first.

Unadkat started with a maiden over against Alok Kumar. Sooryavanshi hit a six off the first ball he faced against Chetan Sakariya. In the next over, Alok Kumar was run out after a mix-up with his captain. Sooryavanshi followed it up with a six and a four in the third over. In the fifth over, Sakariya bowled a slower one to Sooryavanshi. The batter couldn't pick it up, and Sakariya took a catch on follow-through. The opener departed after scoring 18 runs from 12 balls.

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Bihar lose by 5 wickets

After Sooryavanshi's wicket, Bihar could not accelerate in the middle overs. In the 11th over, Krains Fultera dismissed Altamish Ashraf, who scored 24 runs from 20 balls. Boundaries were scarce. Then, Raghuvendra Pratap Singh fell to Prerak Mankad. He managed to score just 14 runs from 21 balls. 

Prithvi Raj tried to accelerate. He hit a couple of sixes each off Parth Bhut and Sakariya. In the 18th over, skipper Unadkat dismissed Suraj Kashyap for a single-digit score. Sakariya bowled the penultimate over and struck twice, dismissing Mayank Kumar and Raj. Mayank departed for a single-digit score, whereas Raj contributed with a 27-ball 38. Bihar lost another wicket in the final over and managed to post 137/9.

Saurashtra openers got off to a cautious start. In the fifth over, Suraj Kashyap dismissed Visvaraj Jadeja for a 14-ball 18. Harvansh Pangalia got off the mark with a six. They had 55/1 on the board after the powerplay overs. Kashyap struck again, dismissing the other opener, Harvik Desai, for an 18-ball 21. Pangalia took on Himanshu Singh in the eighth over, hitting two sixes and a four. In the same over, Pangalia got out lbw for an 11-ball 33.

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Mankad and Sammar Gajjar fell cheaply, but Siddhant Rana and Ruchit Ahir ensured Saurashtra got over the line with five wickets in hand and 21 balls to spare. Ahir scored 21 runs from 19 balls, including two fours. On the other end, Rana scored 21 runs from 18 balls, featuring a six and a four.

When will Sooryavanshi play next?

Sooryavanshi will have another chance to score big in SMAT 2026 when Bihar play their next game of the season against Railways on November 16.

After the Railways game, he will leave Bihar’s SMAT 2026 squad to join India A side for the ACC Rising Stars Emerging tournament. India A's campaign starts against Nepal on November 20. Then, India A will face Pakistan A on November 22. The Tilak Varma-led India A's last group stage clash is against UAE. The semifinals will be played on November 26 and 27, and the final is scheduled for November 29. 

If Bihar make it to the Super League stage, Sooryavanshi can rejoin the side. 

He will join the T20I side in December for a three-T20I series against Sri Lanka from December 22 to 27. It is not clear how many games the teenager will get in the series. On the New Zealand tour, Sooryavanshi played a couple of games after Ishan Kishan got injured. He couldn't make an impact at no.3 in the Christchurch T20I. He got to open in the Wellington T20I and scored 45 runs from just 19 balls. 

Before the T20I series against Sri Lanka, Sooryavanshi is expected to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2026-27. Bihar begin their VHT campaign against Tamil Nadu on December 14.

IPL comeback for Sakariya?

This was Sakariya's first T20 appearance this year. He was not part of any Indian Premier League (IPL) team in 2026. Before that, he played just one match for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). At Delhi Capitals (DC), he played five games from IPL 2022 to 2023. He made his IPL debut in 2021 for Rajasthan Royals (RR), taking 14 wickets in as many games at an average of 30.42.

He was roped in by RR for Rs 1.2 crore. DC picked him for Rs 4.2 crore. KKR roped him in for Rs 50 lakh. He will register for IPL 2027 mini-auction.

Sakariya made his T20I and ODI debut in 2021 on the Sri Lanka tour. He has a wicket in two T20Is and took two wickets on his ODI debut.