Explained: Why RR sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi's age has come under the scanner after his record-breaking century

Cricket prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been making heads turn ever since Rajasthan Royals bought the schoolkid for Rs 1.10 crore at the Indian Premier League mega auction in November. After spending half of the 18th IPL season on the bench, Suryavanshi announced himself in the world’s biggest T20 league with a knock of 34 off 20 deliveries, which included a six off his first ball.

And a little over a week later, the left-handed batter from Bihar would have the entire cricketing world sitting up and taking notice of him with a 35-ball hundred, which not only is the second fastest in IPL history but also made him the youngest centurion not just in the league’s history but across the men’s Twenty20 format.

Also Read | All records broken by Vaibhav Suryavanshi in 35-ball century against GT

Suryavanshi’s dream start to his IPL career, however, has also put the spotlight on his age, with a section of the cricketing world unconvinced whether he really is 14 years old or not.

Why Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s age has come under the scanner?

Official records mention 27 March, 2011 as the day Suryavanshi was born the town of Tajpur near Samastipur in Bihar. In an interview with BNN News that was uploaded to YouTube in April 2023, he had mentioned that he would be turning 14 in September. And if that statement is to be believed, then the official records have got the month of his birth wrong in addition to the year.

Suryavanshi further revealed in the same interview that he had been playing cricket for five years at that point, and that it was his father who inspired him to take up the sport.

Also Read | How Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s parents helped him become the youngest IPL centurion

Even if he was born in September 2009, smashing a 35-ball century against an attack comprising senior pacers Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj as well as a world-class leg-spinner in Rashid Khan at the age of 15 years and seven months old is no mean feat.

The IPL has been unearthing hidden gems in its 17 years of existence and the latest one certainly has shown the potential to be a batting superstar down the road.