India’s young batting sensation Viabhav Suryavanshi etched his name in record books as he became the youngest Indian player to play List-A cricket. The 13-year-year-old achieved the feat during Bihar vs Madhya Pradesh Group E match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 20234-25 on Saturday, December 21 at NexGen Cricket Ground, Hyderabad.
At the age of 13 years and 269 days, Suryavanshi broke the record of Ali Akbar who made his List A debut at the age of 14 years and 51 days for Vidarbha during the 1999/2000 season. He’s already the youngest Indian to make his Ranji Trophy debut and also to play at the Under 19 level. However, Suryavanshi didn’t have a memorable outing on his List A debut as he got out on just the second ball of his innings by Aryan Pandey after scoring a boundary off the first one.
Being put in to bat first, Bihar were bundled out for 196 in 46.4 overs with Bipin Saurabh (50 off 54) and captain Sakibul Gani (48 off 62) being the top scorers. In reply, Madhya Pradesh comfortably chased down the target in 25.1 overs as Harsh Gawli played a brilliant match-winning innings of 83 off 63 balls. As a result, Madhya Pradesh won the match by six wickets and Suryavanshi didn’t have a great beginning to his List-A career.
However, the teen prodigy has been making headlines both on and off the field in recent times as he recently became the youngest player to be sold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. The 13-year-old was bought for Rs 1.10 Crore by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) where he will work under the guidance of the legendary India cricketer and head coach Rahul Dravid.
Suryavanshi’s marvellous performance in Under 19 Asia Cup
After a record-breaking IPL deal, Suryavanshi impressed everyone with his batting exploits in the recent Under-19 Asia Cup, where he finished as the second-highest run scorer for India. The Bihar-born cricketer scored 176 runs from five innings at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 145.45 with two half centuries to his name.
Suryavanshi played belligerent innings of 76* (46) vs UAE and 67 (36) vs Sri Lanka as he put his wide array of strokes on display. Meanwhile, the youngster will be eager to bounce back to form in the remaining games of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy and help his team win the title.
