Vaibhav Sooryavanshi meets Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, receives Rs 50 lakh cheque

Patna (Bihar) [India], February 22 (ANI): The 14-year-old sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, and Sports Minister Shreyasi Singh at the Chief Minister's House on Sunday.
In a heartwarming gesture, the U-19 World Cup-winning star received a Rs 50 lakh cheque from the Bihar Chief Minister.
Sooryavanshi was the Player of the Match in the finals against England at the U-19 World Cup for his match-winning inning of 175 runs off 80 balls, comprising 15 fours and sixes each, reaching his century in 55 balls, which is one of the fastest in U-19 World Cup history and helped india win the World Cup for the sixth time.
Sooryavanshi was also the Player of the tournament, scoring 439 runs in seven matches at a brilliant strike rate of 169.50 and an average of 62.71. The left-handed opener hit the most sixes in the tournament (30 sixes).
The opener holds the record for the youngest debutant in the IPL at just 14 years and 23 days, the youngest to hit a century in the IPL in just 35 balls against Gujarat Giants, becoming the fastest Indian to hit a hundred, surpassing Yusuf Pathan's record.
The explosive batter is preparing for the upcoming 2026 IPL season, in which he will play for the Rajasthan Royals. He will be one of the key players to watch out for in the upcoming IPL season.
The 14-year-old is also India's leading run-getter in U19 ODIs, with 1,412 runs in 25 innings at 56.48, a strike rate over 165, four centuries, seven fifties, and a best score of 175.
Since October 2024, it has been onwards and upwards for this southpaw, as he first made it to the headlines with a 58-ball century for India U19 against Australia U19 in Chennai, the fastest by an India U19 batter in Youth Tests.
During the IPL mega auction ahead of the 2025 season, he secured a deal worth Rs 1.1 crore with Rajasthan Royals, making him the youngest IPL player ever. In the IPL clash against the Gujarat Titans, at the age of 14, Sooryavanshi became the youngest T20 centurion and the first Indian to hit the fastest IPL fifty.
Starting his IPL journey with a first-ball six, he became one of the young, emerging stars of the season, with 252 runs in seven innings at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 206.55, with a century and fifty.
After that, it has been recorded following Sooryavanshi wherever he goes. Whether it is his 52-ball century against July last year, making him the youngest and fastest U19 centurion of all time, his 61-ball 108 against Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) season last year which made him the youngest centurion in the tournament history or his 84-ball 190 against Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), making him the youngest List A centurion and second-fastest List A centurion amongst Indians last year, Sooryavanshi has taken every format by storm one by one.
While his high-risk, high-reward style makes him prone to plenty of off-days, it is just as glittering and box-office when the ball comes nicely on his bat and sails in multiple directions for fours and sixes when destiny writes for him something big. (ANI)