At 15 years and 232 days, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest captain in men's T20 history when he took the field for Bihar in their 2026-27 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy opener against the Jaydev Unadkat-led Saurashtra team in Indore. He broke the record held by Croatia's Zach Vukusic, who captained his national team when he was 17 years and 311 days old.
This is another landmark in Sooryavanshi's young career, coming just five months after his T20I debut for India and less than ten months after he helped India win the Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe.
Sooryavanshi's inclusion is a shot-in-the-arm for Bihar, still smarting from four successive defeats in the first-half of the 2026-27 Ranji Trophy season. However, he only managed 18 off 12 - out caught and bowled by left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya - after he elected to bat.
After this game, Sooryavanshi will be available for just one more SMAT fixture before linking up with India A for the ACC Rising Stars Emerging tournament - played in the 50-over format - in Doha from November 19.
Sooryavanshi's most recent appearance for India came on their tour of New Zealand, when he hit a 19-ball 45 during a 133-run opening stand with Abhishek Sharma in just 7.1 overs. In all, he featured in two T20Is in that series, which India won 3-2.
Saturday's fixture is only his eighth T20 for Bihar and 44th overall; 23 have been for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Last November, he slammed the joint-third-fastest T20 century by an Indian when he hit 144 off 42 balls for India A against UAE at the ACC Rising Stars tournament.