14-year-old cricketing wonder Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of Bihar received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar from President Droupadi Murmu on December 26, 2025. He received the award at the hands of the President at an event at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The 14-year-old was given India's highest civilian award for kids (ages 5 to 18), which honors outstanding performance in a variety of areas, including sports, bravery, innovation, science, social service, and culture. Twenty young achievers were honored at the event, including Suryavanshi.
The teenager first gained national prominence this year while playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). He scored the fastest century by an Indian in IPL history, doing so in just 35 balls against Shubman Gill's Gujarat Titans in Jaipur.
His absence from Bihar's Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Manipur due to his attendance at Rashtrapati Bhavan caused some surprise, particularly in light of his incredible 190-run knock against Arunachal Pradesh in the previous game.
Following the ceremony, the left-handed batter is likely to join the rest of India's Under-19 side and go to Zimbabwe to prepare for the forthcoming Under-19 World Cup, which starts on January 15.
