Fifteen-year-old Indian cricketer controls chaos; breaks several records in T20I series against Zimbabwe

Once again, a fifteen-year-old has outperformed some of the brightest stars in the world. Once again, it’s Vaibhav Sooryvanshi.

The Bihar native scored 151 runs in three matches against Zimbabwe to win his first Player of the Series award in India colors on Sunday.

Sooryvanshi, who made a name for himself in successive years after impressing for India Under-19 and India A teams, was brought into the side after outdoing his performances in his first IPL season with 72 sixes and multiple records en route to earning the highly sought orange cap and a strike rate of 237.3 throughout the IPL 2026. This earned him a spot in successive T20I series, starting with the India tour of Ireland and England.

His anticipated debut in Blue and Orange was delayed until the 5-match T20I series against England, where he played three matches and scored 14, 13, and 15, respectively. This unremarkable run led to his being dropped in the final match of the series, given that he would likely play throughout India’s tour of Zimbabwe later in June.

In his first match against Zimbabwe in one of his favorite venues—where he scored his famous 175 (80) in the U19 World Cup Final—he shattered multiple records, including being the youngest to hit a fifty in men’s T20I matches. He hit 50 off 18 balls, finishing the very next ball for a 50 (19) score.

He scored a brisk 20 (9) in the second match at Harare, and top-scored with a player-of-the-match performance of 81 (49) in a more reserved and mature knock from the youngster.

Sooryavanshi has made the squad for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games, and will likely play in Japan.