Vaibhav Suryavanshi, listed as a 12-year-old in BCCI’s records, made his first-class debut for Bihar on Friday (January 5) during the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy clash against Mumbai.

Suryavanshi became the fourth-youngest Indian to play a first-class match at the age of 12 years and 284 days when he was handed his debut at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna. Alimuddin, at 12 years and 73 days, holds the record for being the youngest debutant in first-class cricket, when he played for Rajputana against Baroda in 1942-43.

SK Bose, who made his debut at the age of 12 years and 76 days in the clash between Bihar and Assam in 1959-60 and Mohammad Ramzan, who played for Northern India in the Ranji Trophy match against United Provinces in 1937-38 are the only Indians who debuted at a younger age than Suryavanshi.

Overall, he is the sixth-youngest and only one of nine players in the history of first-class cricket to make his debut before turning 13.

Who is Vaibhav Suryavanshi?

Suryavanshi has played for Bihar previously in the 2023 Cooch Bihar Trophy, a domestic tournament in India for under-19 players. He top-scored with 151 off 128 balls in a game against Jharkhand and followed it up with 76 in the second innings.

In the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, a One-Day competition for Under-19 players in India, he made 393 runs at an average of 78.60 in five innings at a strike rate of 109.17, making three fifties and a hundred in five innings.

Suryavanshi also played in an under-19 quadrangular series in November 2023, representing India under-19 B, with India under-19 A, England under-19 and Bangladesh under-19 also taking part.

Controversy around his age

In an interview last year with BNN News Benipatti, Suryavanshi said that he would turn 14 years old on September 27, which would make his birth year 2009. However, the record differs on his birth certificate, which has 27 March 2011 as the day he was born. The BCCI also has him enlisted as a 12-year-old.