Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the IPL crorepati at 13, faced 500-600 balls a day even at nine

The ringtone of the mobile phone of 13-year-old India under-19 player Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s father goes, ‘tujhe sooraj kahoon ya chanda, deep kahoon ya tara; mera naam karega roshan, jag mein mera raaj dulaara’.

The song in Manna Dey’s voice from 'Ek Phool Do Mali' translates to, ‘shall I call you sun or a moon, lamp or star; my darling, you will bring honour to my name across the world’.

Sanjeev Suryavanshi, owner of a jewellery shop in Samastipur and some farming land, wanted his son to live the life of a cricketer that he had once aspired to but couldn’t.

He, therefore, handed Vaibhav a bat at 4, got him into an academy a year or so later and by the time he was into his ninth year took him to Patna to get him some personal training at the hands of coach Manish Ojha, who played Ranji Trophy between 1999 and 2007 alongside former India captain MS Dhoni. First for undivided Bihar and then for Jharkhand.

“Vaibhav’s father would drive him down from Samastipur to Patna, a distance of over 100 kilometres every alternate day for personal training,” says Ojha, who runs the Gennex Cricket Academy in the Bihar capital.

WATCH | Vaibhav Suryavanshi bat during practice and match

Things would start early at the Suryavanshi household. They’d get up at four, the stove in the kitchen would be lit, the cricket kit would be packed and by five the father and son would head out for a two-and-a-half hour journey.

“The roads back then were not well-laid so it would take some time to reach here,” says Ojha who reveals the training regimen of the boy.

“I would give individual training to them. After warm-up, he’d bat at the nets. On an average, players face 70-100 balls but he’d play 500-600 balls every training day. They’d be there till 3 or 4 pm,” says Ojha, who also attended the India under-19 camp.

“I would feed 200 balls to him personally in drills, for development of different strokes. There’d be two-three bowlers at the academy earmarked for him. They would also bowl to him for an hour and hour-and-a-half. There would be small breaks for food and toilet.”

The family had made up their mind that Vaibhav would play cricket. Studies would become secondary and cricket was to be primary.

The risk has paid off as Vaibhav was picked by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore in the 2025 IPL Auction on Monday, making him the youngest pick in an IPL Auction.

“The more you work on skill, the more it develops. He was playing four times more balls than the others, naturally the results would be four times more than the others. Even at home, his father would arrange for bowlers on the days he was off from the academy. His frequency of practice was more,” says Ojha.

“Every kid has in-born qualities. His timing is great, execution, pressure handling are all good. That is why he has reached that level at an early age.”

One striking feature about Vaibhav is his height. He stands at 5 feet 11 inches. He has strength that belies his age.

“He has grown immensely over the last two years. Two years ago, he wouldn’t reach my shoulder, now I reach his shoulder. There was nothing special about his fitness routine. But his diet was more than others. He would eat a greater quantity of mutton and chicken than others. His father and mother are tall and bulky so that has also contributed to his height.”

The growth in height has helped him hold a proper size bat weighing 1150 grammes now.

However, there was a bump on the ride to this stage. In 2019, he failed the BCCI age test (bone verification for age determination).  

“However, it was only a year’s dispute. His certificate showed he was nine years two months old whereas according to BCCI test, he was 10 years four months old. So if we go by BCCI tests, he would be 14-plus which is still very young.”

Vaibhav’s next cricket test is at the Under-19 Asia Cup which begins on November 29. India play Pakistan in the first match on November 30.

“He has been proving his mettle at every under-19 level – inter-district, zonal, state and now he will try to do it for India.”

Although he failed in the three Ranji Trophy matches he played for Bihar this season, he scored 104 off 62 balls for India under-19 cricket team against Australia under-19 in the Youth Test in September-October this year.  

Tags : Vaibhav Suryavanshi, IPL Auction, Rajasthan Royals, India under-19 cricket team, Patna, Samastipur