It took just three matches for a 14-year-old batting prodigy from Bihar Vaibhav Suryavanshi to show the world cricket what he is capable of. The wonderkid Vaibhav Suryavanshi scripted history with his record-breaking yet breathtaking centurion knock in Rajasthan Royals' (RR) winning cause against Gujarat Titans (GT) in their IPL 2025 clash on April 28. The budding cricketer played a sensational knock of 101 runs off 38 balls which helped RR make light work of GT's 210-run target which was overhauled with 25 balls and eight wickets to spare. With this feat, Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest batsman to score a T20 century.
How RR executed Vaibhav Suryavanshi's scouting?
When Rajasthan Royals placed their bet on this player from Bihar during the IPL 2025 mega auction, certainly it raised many eyebrows. However, RR management must be thumping their chest in pride with the masterstroke they executed in the auction by roping in the young kid. Rajasthan Royals' manager Romi Bhinder, in an exlusive conversation with Sports Today, revealed an incredible story behind the scouting of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and how just six balls paved the way for the 14-year-old's IPL contract.
Vaibhav was just 13 when RR acquired him for Rs 1.10 crore which made him the youngest player to be auctioned in IPL history. Bhinder explained that the Royals' management had called the player for a trial, and after watching him play just one over, they were convinced.
"Rajasthan Royals has been investing in young players since 2008 and preparing them for the Indian team. Vaibhav had played for India in the Under-19 Asia Cup. He was playing domestic cricket for Bihar. So, we requested the Bihar Cricket Association to send him for a trial. During the trial, Rahul Dravid, Zubin Bharucha (RR's Director of High Performance), and Vikram Rathour were present. After watching his game in the first over itself, they agreed that this boy has amazing talent. Fortunately, we picked him up in the auction. After the auction, he spent three months with us at the Rajasthan Royals' High-Performance Center in Nagpur, where he worked very hard," Bhinder told Sports Today.
Bhinder talked about how Vaibhav left Rahul Dravid in awe with his performance at the trials and also revealed what the RR head coach told him right after witnessing the 14-year-old's batting.
"He is kid , but the way he played the first over at the Nagpur High-Performance Center we got to know that this boy has some serious talent. It was from there that Rahul Bhai and Zubin called me and said to keep an eye on him, talk to his parents, and that we would want to take him. We wanted to keep him under our supervision even if we couldn't pick him up this year. But fortunately, we got him in the auction," Bhinder added.