15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Shatters 57-Year Duleep Trophy Record — But His Stunning 92 Ends Eight Runs Short of Another Milestone

BENGALURU: At just 15 years and 157 days, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has broken a 57-year-old record, becoming the youngest player in Duleep Trophy history to score a half-century.

The teenage left-hander reached the milestone off 42 balls for East Zone against Central Zone in the 2026 semi-final at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1. He eventually produced a remarkable 92 from 81 deliveries, with seven fours and seven sixes, before falling just eight runs short of a century, according to the official Rajasthan Royals report.

A 57-year-old mark finally falls

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi replaced Laxman Singh as the youngest player to score a youngest player half-century in the tournament. Singh was 16 years and 23 days old when he achieved the feat in the 1968-69 season, a mark that had stood for 57 years.

The Hindustan Times reported that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi completed his fifty by hitting off-spinner Saransh Jain for six.

His innings therefore did not merely produce the youngest player half-century. It erased the Laxman Singh record, making the 15-year-old the new youngest half-centurion in the competition’s history.

The innings turned into something even bigger

The 42-ball fifty underlined the extraordinary pace of the innings. In the context of a first-class match, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi attacked Central Zone with unusual freedom, racing through his scoring before eventually making 92 off 81 balls.

By the time he was dismissed, he had struck seven boundaries and seven sixes and shared a 161-run opening partnership with Abhimanyu Easwaran, Wisden reported.

The Duleep Trophy semi-final had therefore produced far more than a routine fifty. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had reached the youngest player half-century mark, broken the Laxman Singh record and then come agonisingly close to another major landmark.

The century that never came

Sooryavanshi was dismissed for 92 while trying to clear the boundary against Harsh Dubey, ending an innings that had briefly raised the prospect of an even bigger record.

A century would have made Vaibhav Sooryavanshi the youngest player to score one in the Duleep Trophy, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s age mark of 17 years and 262 days, according to Rajasthan Royals.

Instead, the teenager departed eight runs short. But the youngest player’s half-century and the broken Laxman Singh record ensured that his innings had already entered the tournament’s history books.

A familiar milestone in a rising career

For Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 92 was also his second half-century in first-class cricket, while his previous best was 93 for Bihar against Meghalaya in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 Plate Group, the Rajasthan Royals report said.

His latest Duleep Trophy achievement adds another extraordinary chapter to a career that has already attracted intense attention because of his age and rapid rise. Like Pasindu Sooriyabandara’s maiden half-century in recent cricket coverage, this was a milestone that changed the immediate narrative of a match.

At 15 years and 157 days, however, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has gone further: the youngest player to score a half-century now belongs to him, and the Laxman Singh record has finally been rewritten after 57 years.