His farm land was lost in pursuit of his son’s cricketing dream but Sanjiv Suryavanshi was a picture of gratitude after Vaibhav’s blitzkrieg set the IPL ablaze. The 14-year-old left-hander shattered records books when he became the youngest centurion in T20 cricket with a 35-ball hundred for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans on Monday night in Jaipur. The Suryavanshis hail from Samastipur town.

“He has made our village, Bihar and the whole of India proud. We could not be happier and are celebrating. I want to thank the Rajasthan Royals who worked on him extensively in the last three-four months,” said Sanjiv in a video released by Bihar Cricket Association.

“I want to thank head coach Rahul Dravid and the rest of the support staff for improving Vaibhav’s game. He himself has worked very hard on his game and this hundred is a result of that.

“I also want to thank Bihar cricket chief Rakesh Tiwary for giving Vaibhav an opportunity to represent the state at the senior level at such a young age,” Sanjiv added.

Royals invested in Suryavanshi’s talent by spending Rs 1.10 crore at the mega auction last year, almost four times his base price of Rs 30 lakh.

He has already played for the India U-19s and made his first-class debut against Mumbai in January 2024.

Royals had called Suryavanshi for trials in Nagpur where the franchise batting coach Vikram Rathour was instantly impressed by the teenager’s talent.

In a recent interview with IPLT20, the gifted left-hander spoke about the struggles his family embraced for him to pursue his cricketing dream.

“I am what I am because of my parents. My father left his work to support me. My elder brother is taking care of his work and the household is running with great difficulty. But papa is backing me,” said Suryavanshi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)