Oddly enough, Suryavanshi’s fast-tracking in 2023 owed as much to chance as to talent.
A Vinoo Mankad Trophy game in Chandigarh – the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) domestic Under-19 competition, and one that selector Thilak Naidu had been assigned to watch – was washed out.
With time on his hands, and having already heard murmurs about a gifted boy from Bihar, Naidu headed to another match being played simultaneously.
That detour proved decisive. There, Suryavanshi – still not a teenager – struck 86 off 76 balls to steer Bihar past Assam, an innings compelling enough to trigger the fast-track that followed.
Naidu was so convinced of Suryavanshi’s ability – backed up by a couple more half-centuries – that he fast-tracked the batter, having had a word with VVS Laxman, who headed the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bangalore.
Suryavanshi found his rhythm at every step up the ladder.
He piled on runs in the Under-19 Challenger Trophy in November 2023, then carried that form into a quadrangular series later that month, representing India Under-19 against England and Bangladesh.
The real statement came a year later. Picked for the youth Test against Australia in October 2024, Suryavanshi hammered a 58-ball hundred – an innings that announced him.
It was then argued that the IPL might be a step too far for a boy still finding his feet and that facing the world’s best so early could do more harm than good.
In the 2025 season, Suryavanshi put those concerns to rest: launching the very first ball he faced, from the experienced Shardul Thakur, for six.
Not long after, he justified the roughly $130,000 investment the Rajasthan Royals made in a 13-year-old – becoming the youngest centurion in competitive senior cricket with a blistering 35-ball hundred against the Gujarat Titans.
