In recent years, there have been rumors in India about the “next big thing” in the world of cricket; however, Vaibhav Suryavanshi is making such a ruckus that he’s screaming loud enough to be heard by everyone. A player who is still under the age of 15 has walked onto an Under-19 Asia Cup opening game and hit 171 runs in just 95 deliveries, and that is enough to get your attention. When you learn that his 171 included 14 sixes, then you are leaning in closer than ever before. And when you hear that he came up just six runs shy of Ambati Rayudu’s incredible 177 in 2002 at Taunton, you shut down all distractions and take a long, hard look at what talent may look like in the world of 2025 cricket.
A Breakneck Scoring Pattern That Defies Age
Suryavanshi’s 171 were as aggressive as they were quick. He hit nine fours and 14 sixes that totaled 110 of his 171 runs. The way he played his innings was a direct translation from modern-day T-20 batsmen into a 50-over format, with many examples of this style of play (Jason Roy and Prithvi Shaw), although Suryavanshi has taken it to an extreme level already. The fact that he could have maintained a strike rate of 180+ well into his 30th over is an indicator of a unique combination of hitting for big numbers and being able to sustain those high numbers over time and not just in short bursts.
A Multi-Format Footprint Unusually Mature for His Stage
In general, a 42-ball 144 in T20s and a 78-ball first-class century in Brisbane would be in two different developmental phases of development for many cricket players. The two milestones were achieved by Suryavanshi within the same calendar year.
His Brisbane hundred was a clearer example of his quality. Australian youth cricket does not often favor subcontinent batsmen, especially when it comes to longer format matches that require a combination of patience and technical ability. Suryavanshi finishing with the second most runs in that multi-day tournament is an indicator that there is some level of consistent, repetitive batting fundamentals, at least when he is not firing on all cylinders.
He reminds me of early Kane Williamson, who impressed just as much as he did in red-ball age-group tours as he did in youth tournaments. However, unlike Williamson’s quiet classical graft, Suryavanshi is creating a Sehwagian style of play, which combines an aggressive approach with a surprisingly high degree of composure.
A Sustained Dominance Against Strong Youth Attacks
With 355 runs (at a 174.01 Strike Rate) against England Under-19s as well as his role in India’s 2 – 0 series victory over Australia, the evidence points to a player who consistently performs — and dominates — across formats, and countries. The ability to maintain such high levels of performance across various formats and countries has never been seen before in youth cricket, in terms of the amount of time between the first and last match played in a calendar year.
Not every young player with an impressive tournament result produces across different types of competitions; nor do they produce across multiple bilateral series, multi-day games, national domestic Twenty20 tournaments, or international continental games.
In other words, elite batting development looks like sustained growth; it doesn’t have “spike” moments of high performance.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi is more than a talented young hitter in the midst of an incredible run. He is creating one of the most well-rounded teenage resumes for a player from India, and he is accomplishing this in a time frame that is shrinking what was typically a 3-year development process to a single-season breakout.
With the upcoming Under-19 World Cup scheduled for next month, the greater issue here is not if Suryavanshi will produce in this tournament, but rather at what point will Youth Cricket be able to continue to hold him back from senior cricket being the next logical step?
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