Google CEO Sundar Pichai has reacted to a video of Rajasthan Royals batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s dream debut in the IPL. The 14 year old was bought at a price of ₹1.1 crores in this year’s IPL mega auctions and played his first match on Saturdary against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Awestruck by Suryavanshi’s power hitting abilities, Pichai wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, “Woke up to watch an 8th grader play in the IPL!!!! What a debut!”
Vaibhav Suryavanshi creates history:
Suryavanshi created history on Saturday when he became the youngest player ever to play for an IPL franchise at the age of 14 years and 23 days. Interestingly, Suryavanshi was born in 2011, three years after the Indian Premier League came into existence in 2008, making him the first player to play in an IPL match who was born after the tournament’s inception.
Suryavanshi was named in Rajasthan Royals’ impact player list and later replaced Sandeep Sharma to open the innings alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The 14-year-old showed his class in the very first over with a beautiful six over the covers off Shardul Thakur. He continued until the 9th over, putting on 84 runs for the first wicket. However, despite his 34-run knock (off 20 balls), RR failed to win the match due to a majestic spell from Lucknow Super Giants’ Avesh Khan.
Who is Vaibhav Suryavanshi?
Hailing from Samastipur in Bihar, Suryavanshi had earlier made headlines for his extraordinary performances on the field. In the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season, Suryavanshi made his debut against Mumbai at the tender age of 12 years and 284 days. It was a record in itself.
Suryavanshi had caught the attention of cricket pundits during the Youth Test series against Australia in Chennai, where he scored 104 runs off just 62 balls. He also became the youngest centurion in the 170-year history of competitive cricket at 13 years and 188 days.
The left-hander also set a record for the fastest century by an Indian at youth level. His blistering 58-ball century is the second fastest at this level behind England’s Moeen Ali, who achieved the feat in 56 balls.
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