Vaibhav Suryavanshi is making 2025 look like a video game set on easy mode. Just when it seemed impossible for the year to get any louder for the 14-year-old, he cranked the volume up once again and left the cricketing world stunned.
On Wednesday, the teenage prodigy tore through the record books, smashing the fastest 150 in List A history and eclipsing AB de Villiers’ long-standing record. In the aftermath of the carnage, the conversation shifted dramatically, no longer about whether Vaibhav is special, but how quickly India should begin fast-tracking him.
‘What are we waiting for?’ Shashi Tharoor’s call echoes nationwide
The buzz grew louder when Congress MP Shashi Tharoor weighed in with a comparison that instantly grabbed attention. Taking to X, Tharoor drew parallels with a young Sachin Tendulkar, urging Indian cricket to act decisively.
“The last time a fourteen-year-old showed such prodigious cricketing talent, it was Sachin Tendulkar — and we all know what became of him. What are we waiting for? Vaibhav Suryavanshi for India!” Tharoor wrote, tagging head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
When Tendulkar’s name enters the discussion, it’s a signal that something extraordinary is unfolding.
A knock that sent record books into meltdown
Turning out in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Vaibhav delivered an innings for the ages. The Bihar opener went berserk, hammering a breathtaking 190 off just 84 balls, including 15 towering sixes. He raced to 150 at a pace never before seen in List A cricket.
At just 14, Vaibhav batted with the authority and composure of a seasoned international. Pace, spin, length, nothing mattered. Anything in his hitting arc vanished into the stands. It was domination in its purest form.
He wasn’t alone in the onslaught. Bihar skipper Sakibul Gani added to the spectacle with a blistering 128 off 40 balls, bringing up his hundred in just 32 deliveries, the fastest List A century by an Indian. Wicketkeeper Ayush Loharuka chipped in with a rapid 116 off 56 balls, though even that was eclipsed on a day when records fell in clusters.
The result was staggering: Bihar piled up 574/6, the highest team total in List A cricket history. The previous record of 506/2, held by Tamil Nadu, also against Arunachal Pradesh was left far behind.
While the opposition attack was modest and the match came in the Plate Group, the scale of Vaibhav’s achievement remains undeniable. Not everyone produces such destruction, regardless of the level. Scoring 190 at a strike rate more suited to T20 cricket in a 50-over match is the mark of rare, freakish talent.
India have traditionally been cautious with prodigies and rightly so. But some performances don’t knock politely; they kick the door down. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is no longer just a name for the future. He is a conversation for the present.
Whether the India call-up comes immediately or after careful grooming, one thing is clear: 2025 already belongs to him. And if this is what he’s capable of at 14, the rest of the cricketing world might want to buckle up. A new phenomenon has announced himself loudly, emphatically, and without apology.
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