Cartoons & hose hands - what makes Sooryavanshi, 15, special?

ByTimothy Abraham

BBC Sport Journalist

They can ignore him no longer. After smashing so many records since breaking through as a 13-year-old, India are likely to hand a debut to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in Friday's first T20 international against Ireland in Belfast.

He will be 15 years and 91 days, younger even than India's most famous teenage prodigy, Sachin Tendulkar, who played a one-day international against Pakistan in 1989, aged 16 years and 205 days.

Given his age, Sooryavanshi will have to change in separate changing rooms from his team-mates for safeguarding reasons.

His imminent debut comes off the back of a stellar season in the Indian Premier League where he was the highest run-scorer with 776 in 16 innings at a strike-rate of 237.30 for the Rajasthan Royals.

Days ago, batting for India A against Sri Lanka A, he broke the record for the fastest half-century in the history of List A 50-over cricket when he reached the landmark off just 11 balls.

But beyond the statistics, what really makes teenage opening batter so special?

To find out, BBC Sport spoke to three legendary former batters - Rahul Dravid, Michael Vaughan and Justin Langer - who have all watched him at close quarters.

Ex-Australia international Justin Langer, coach of Lucknow Super Giants, and was, like Sooryavanshi, a left-handed opener.

"Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is only the second selfie I've ever asked for! The other was with an AFL champion who I used to watch when I was a little kid.

"I said 'I've never done this before in the IPL, but do you mind if we have a selfie together? Because I am in awe of your talent, I'm in awe of your mindset, I'm in awe of the way you play cricket'. Watching him bat is mind-blowing.

"What makes him so special? He's got extraordinary hands. I always say the really great players, their hands are like a hose in a swimming pool.

"He almost does a figure-eight in his hands in his backswing. You know, it's tiny, it's subtle, but they're just so loose.

"A lot of left-handers, when they're trying to hit sixes, they go from the sight screen round to the leg side, which is different with Sooryavanshi who sets up to hit it off side.

"First ball of his IPL career, he hit a six over cover. Not over long-on, not over deep mid-wicket like a lot of left-handers. He hit a six over cover and it went about 20 rows back into the stand.

"This kid not only has the game and the curiosity and hand-eye coordination, but also the hunger to score more and more runs. He is also so humble. That's the mark of a champion player."

Former India batter Rahul Dravid was coach of Rajasthan Royals in 2025 and gave Sooryavanshi his IPL debut at 14.

"You're looking at a really unique talent. I think it's an incredible combination of ability to pick up a bowler's speed and then cricket smarts, fearlessness. It's a whole combination of things.

"I don't think there's a recipe for making a Sooryavanshi, I don't think you can take any kid and say, do this, and he will become that good.

"There are certain things they are just gifted with. But he's worked very hard as well, so it's not just a gift.

"From a young age, he's hit a lot of balls. I saw that at Rajasthan.

"I just hope that he's supported and helped along the journey to be able to actually achieve that potential.

"You need to protect someone like him, but it's always going to be that fine line because sometimes you need to let somebody fly."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan worked as a commentator during the IPL where he got to see Sooryavanshi up close.

"I actually bumped into him in Mumbai. I had a bit of a fan moment. Honestly, I don't think I've had that since meeting Chris Waddle back in the 1990s!

"We had a great conversation. I asked him 'how did you prepare for the game?' He said 'watching cartoons'. I said 'what do you eat?' He said 'I eat everything!'.

"He clearly has an incredible eye and bat swing, but he's also got an amazing awareness of the cue of the bowler.

"He can assess the field, but as a batter, you see a cue in what the bowler's going to deliver. The real great players can just see it before the ball's released.

"Then he can smack it over extra cover, over deep square leg. He can hit it over third man for six.

"You miss your length by an inch, and he's smacking you out the ground. Forget where the field is, he just hits it over the top of the field.

"Imagine him putting on the whites for India and playing Test cricket."