14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi named Bihar vice-captain for opening Ranji Trophy matches
In a historic move, 14-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been named vice-captain of the Bihar team for the first two rounds of the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season, which begins on October 15. Batter Sakibul Gani will lead the side.
Suryavanshi’s elevation to a leadership role comes on the back of a stellar run with the India Under-19 team, where he starred in recent tours of England and Australia. Despite his age, the young opener has already carved out a reputation as a dynamic batter with a mature head on his shoulders.
The announcement comes amid administrative upheaval in the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA), which had to appoint a selector on an ad hoc basis after a BCCI directive to form a five-member selection panel. For now, a two-member panel made the squad decisions, with BCA expected to comply with the full requirement soon.
Rising through the ranks
Suryavanshi impressed in Australia earlier this year, blazing a 78-ball century in the opening four-day match in Brisbane. He finished as the second-highest run-getter in the multi-day series with 133 runs in three innings, playing a crucial role in India Under-19’s 2–0 series win.
That came after a headline-grabbing tour of England, where he smashed 143 off 57 balls in Worcester — the fastest century in youth ODIs — and tallied 355 runs at a strike rate of 174.01 across five games, topping the charts.
Despite limited first-class experience — just five matches since debuting at 12 years and 284 days in early 2024 — Suryavanshi is already making his mark across formats. He has managed 100 runs in 10 Ranji innings so far, but his temperament and raw ability have been widely praised.
T20 sensation at 14
Suryavanshi also became the youngest centurion in men’s T20s earlier this year when he smashed 101 off 38 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans during IPL 2025. Having been picked by Royals at just 13 — the youngest ever in IPL history — he went on to score 252 runs at a blistering strike rate of 206.55 in seven matches.
A crucial season for Bihar
Bihar are hoping for a turnaround after a winless 2024–25 Ranji season, where they picked up just one point from seven matches and were relegated to the Plate league. The team will begin their campaign against Arunachal Pradesh in Patna before facing Manipur in Nadiad from October 25.
There have been murmurs about Suryavanshi possibly moving to a more established state setup, but for now, BCA is focused on retaining their teenage star as they seek a return to the Elite group.
However, Suryavanshi may not be available for the entire season as he is also in contention for India’s Under-19 World Cup squad for the tournament scheduled in early 2026.
Bihar squad for Ranji Trophy 2025–26 (first two rounds):
Piyush Kumar Singh, Bhashkar Dubey, Sakibul Gani (capt), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (vice-capt), Arnav Kishor, Ayush Loharuka, Bipin Saurabh, Amod Yadav, Nawaz Khan, Sakib Hussain, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Sachin Kumar Singh, Himanshu Singh, Khalid Alam, Sachin Kumar
With prodigious talent and early leadership responsibilities, Vaibhav Suryavanshi continues to break age and performance barriers — and all eyes will be on him as Bihar opens their Ranji season this weekend.