Former India captain Kris Srikkanth has heaped rich praise on 15-year-old batting wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and stated that it is because of the energy and excitement that he brings with the bat that even his wife is watching the Duleep Trophy 2026 tournament.
Sooryavanshi is the vice-captain of the East Zone team, which is led by Ishan Kishan and is playing the Duleep Trophy 2026 final against Tilak Varma’s South Zone. This game is being played at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from September 6, 2026, onwards.
Sooryavanshi made 92 and 40 in the semi-final against Central Zone and started the final well with 44 runs in the first innings of the East Zone final. He added 100 runs for the first wicket with Abhimanyu Easwaran. He hit 5 fours and one six in his knock, including two fours and one six in one over of Mohammed Siraj.
"He's playing outstandingly well. He must be encouraged and never be discouraged. If he's moulded properly, he'll be a superstar in the making. He'll bring Test cricket back to its glory. Everyone watched the Duleep Trophy because of him. Even my wife is watching because of him. He'll be a big asset going forward for world cricket," Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Sooryavanshi, who became the youngest batter to score a fifty and a century in IPL, in T20s and Youth ODIs, also became the youngest Indian to score a fifty in T20Is, against Zimbabwe. He recently also made history by becoming the youngest player to score a half-century in the Duleep Trophy history.
At the age of 15 years and 157 days, Sooryavanshi reached the milestone in just 42 balls, smashing a six off off-spinner Saransh Jain to complete his fifty and break a 57-year-old record during East Zone's first innings.
"He played incredibly well. How can people even doubt whether this boy is capable of playing higher-level cricket? He can play every level of cricket, and he is going to rule world cricket shortly in all formats. He's smashing medium pacers with no worries for straight sixes in red-ball cricket. He's toying with the bowlers,” Srikkanth added about Sooryavanshi.
After the openers gave a good start to East Zone, Shikhar Mohan (85) and captain Ishan Kishan have scored fifties to take the team to 335/4 at the time of writing this piece.
