Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his India debut at the age of 15 years.
At only 15, Sooryavanshi has already built a reputation for himself thanks to his explosive batting. The Rajasthan Royals opener made his mark in the IPL in 2025, blasting a 101 off just 38 balls against Gujarat Titans. He reached his century in 35 deliveries, becoming the youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket and one of the quickest to achieve the feat in IPL history.
He kept making headlines in IPL 2026, scoring another IPL century—a 103 off 37 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad—and amassing 776 runs in the season. Earlier this year, Sooryavanshi also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record to become the youngest Indian to play international cricket, making his debut during the tour of England.
Harmanpreet Kaur feels that the young woman cricketer’s approach could inspire the next generation of women cricketers to transform how the sport is played.
"Yes, definitely, like right now he has set an example with the way he is playing cricket. And I'm sure that the new young girls coming up will also play aggressive cricket like this, and across the entire country and the entire world, they will change the image of women's cricket and try to play impressive cricket in the same way," Harmanpreet told reporters in Jaipur, as quoted by ANI.
According to Harmanpreet, the fearless attitude of Sooryavanshi might inspire young girls to be more positive with their bat. This would help in giving women's cricket an attacking profile.
She expressed these views in Jaipur on Friday, November 13, during the unveiling of her wax statue. The statue will be placed at the Historical Museum within Nahargarh Fort, where it will stand beside those of Indian cricket legends MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar.
Harmanpreet gave up her captaincy of India in all formats in October, but she continues to be a part of the team as a player. Her next assignment will be the all-format series against South Africa, which takes place in December, when the two sides will play a Test, three ODIs, and three T20 matches.