Vaibhav Suryavanshi Shatters Records as IPL's Youngest Centurion

Ian Bishop Reflects on Young Talent Vaibhav Suryavanshi

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 29: Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop reminisced about his experience bowling to a young Sachin Tendulkar back in 1990, highlighting how he was astonished by Tendulkar's powerful hitting. Bishop drew parallels between Tendulkar's early exploits and those of 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter who recently made headlines by becoming the youngest player to score a T20 century and the fastest Indian to achieve this feat during a match against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Monday.

In a discussion featured on a video by a prominent sports media outlet, Bishop, who claimed 279 wickets for the West Indies from 1988 to 1998, reflected on Suryavanshi's remarkable 35-ball century against GT.

During the conversation, Bishop recalled a memorable match from the 1990 tour of England, where Tendulkar scored a stunning 105 runs while chasing a target of 236 on a challenging Chesterfield pitch. One of Tendulkar's standout moments was hitting Bishop for a six, which left the bowler in disbelief as India was struggling at 212/8.

"I was playing for Derbyshire, and we were up against India at Chesterfield. I vividly remember it. We batted first and set a challenging total. When Sachin came in, I thought we had the game under control. But then, I bowled a short ball, and he hit it over deep mid-wicket, shocking me completely. Sachin Tendulkar, at just 17, left me in awe," Bishop recounted.

This tour marked a significant turning point in Tendulkar's career, as he amassed 245 runs in three innings across five matches, including his first Test century at Manchester, which helped India secure a draw.

Turning his attention to Suryavanshi's impressive performance, Bishop noted that the young batter is even younger than Tendulkar was during their encounter, and he must have left the formidable GT bowling attack in shock. Suryavanshi's explosive innings of 101 runs off just 38 balls, featuring seven fours and 11 sixes, played a crucial role in RR's successful chase of 210 runs in just 15.5 overs.

"This kid is only 14 years old, taking on world-class bowlers. He must have left Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, and the others stunned," Bishop remarked.

Discussing Suryavanshi's remarkable achievement, Bishop stated, "It's hard to rationalize this. Regardless of what GT bowled, the kid is just 14! He completely dominated what was thrown at him tonight. Moving forward, we can ponder how bowlers will approach him in the next match, but for now, it doesn't matter what they served him."

Suryavanshi's record-breaking night included several milestones:

- He reached his century in just 35 balls, making it the second-fastest century in IPL history, trailing only Chris Gayle's 30-ball century for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2013. He is now the fastest Indian to score a century in the IPL.

- At 14 years and 32 days, he is the youngest player to score a century in T20 cricket, surpassing Vijay Zol, who was 18 years and 118 days old when he achieved this feat in 2013.

- This century is also the seventh-fastest in T20 cricket, with the record for the fastest belonging to Sahil Chauhan of Estonia, who scored in just 27 balls in 2024.

- Suryavanshi reached his fifty in a mere 17 balls, marking the fifth-fastest fifty in league history and making him the youngest player to score an IPL fifty.

- A staggering 94 of his runs came from boundaries, with a boundary percentage of 93%, the highest for any century in IPL history.

- He tied with former Indian cricketer Murali Vijay for the most sixes by an Indian in an IPL innings, each hitting 11 sixes, while Chris Gayle holds the overall record with 17 sixes during his iconic 175* innings.

- The partnership of 166 runs between Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal is now the highest for any wicket for Rajasthan Royals, surpassing the previous record of 155 runs set by Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal in 2022.

- Suryavanshi achieved his first IPL century in just three innings, outperforming Punjab Kings' Priyansh Arya and Paul Valthaty, who took four innings to reach their maiden tons.

Currently, Suryavanshi has scored 151 runs in three matches, boasting an impressive average of 75.50 and a strike rate of 222.05, with his highest score being 101* in IPL 2025.