Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s record-breaking 171 off just 95 balls powered India to a flying start in their ACC U19 Asia Cup 2025 opener against hosts UAE in Dubai on Friday.
The 14-year-old Indian prodigy, who has been retained by the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), shattered the mark for the highest score by an Indian in the U19 Asia Cup.
The previous best was Himanshu Rana’s 130 against Afghanistan in Colombo in 2016. Soumya Sarkar of Bangladesh holds the record for most runs in an innings in U19 Asia Cup. He smashed 209 against Qatar in 2012.
Sooryavanshi’s knock was an exhibition of clean ball-striking. He launched 14 sixes - the most by any batter in the tournament’s history - going past Afghanistan’s Darwish Rasooli, who struck 10 against UAE in 2017.
Vaibhav’s innings, decorated with nine fours, came at a strike rate of 180. He brought up his half-century in 30 balls, his century in just 56 and 150 in 84 balls.
Interestingly, his innings began with a quiet patch - five consecutive dot balls against Ali Asghar Shums in the second over.
However, the moment he pierced the offside for his first boundary off the final ball of that over, the momentum shifted. In Shums’ next over, Sooryavanshi unleashed two sixes and never looked back.
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Sooryavanshi was dismissed in the 33rd over with the score on 265/3, giving India a launchpad to score more than 400.
Sooryavanshi’s meteoric rise has been one of the biggest sporting storylines of the year globally. He was the most-searched Indian on Google this year and the sixth overall.
His record-shattering IPL debut season with Rajasthan Royals - from smashing a six off his first ball to scoring a 35-ball century and earning the Super Striker of the Season award - catapulted him into global attention.
What followed was a historic campaign across age-group cricket, becoming the fastest batter to score a century in Youth ODIs.
At the Rising Stars Asia Cup earlier this year, he scored 144 off 42 balls for India A against UAE, smashing 11 fours and 15 sixes.
His performances have continued to grow. Earlier this month, the teenager hit an unbeaten 108 off 61 balls for Bihar against Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Kolkata - becoming the youngest player to score a century in the tournament’s history.
Last month, Instagram chose to spotlight Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s journey on its official page - making him only the second Indian cricketer after Virat Kohli to receive the honour.
