Vaibhav Sooryavanshi added another big record in his rapidly growing resume, becoming the youngest to score a fifty in international cricket during the first game of the three-match ZIM vs IND T20 2026 series in Harare on Thursday.
The India and Rajasthan Royals opener, aged 15 years and 118 days, scored 50 off 19 balls for his maiden T20I fifty, surpassing Nepal's Kushal Malla, who was 15 years and 340 days old when he made an ODI half-century against the USA in 2020.
Never miss an update on Rajasthan Royals - get the latest articles, news, and more by clicking here!
Sachin Tendulkar, who was 16 years and 213 days old when he scored 59 against Pakistan on his Test debut tour in Faisalabad in 1989, was the previous youngest Indian batter to score an international fifty.
In T20Is, Gibraltar's Louis Bruce, who was 16 years and 56 days old when he made 60 off 53 balls against Malta at Albergaria in 2021, was the previous youngest to ever score a fifty in T20I cricket.
Rohit Sharma, who reached the milestone during the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 at the age of 20 years and 143 days, held the Indian record.
Sooryavanshi's record-breaking knock came in just his fourth T20I, having become India's youngest-ever men's international cricketer earlier this month at the age of 15 years and 99 days.
Chasing 126, the left-handed opener survived a probing opening over from Blessing Muzarabani before shifting through the gears. He hammered Richard Ngarava for two sixes and a four in the second over and never looked back, taking on Brad Evans and Muzarabani with equal authority.
The youngster smashed four fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 263.15 before falling immediately after reaching his maiden international fifty, miscuing a slower delivery from Ngarava to deep third.
Harare has proved to be a happy hunting ground for Sooryavanshi. Earlier this year, he struck a sensational 175 off 80 balls against England in the ICC Under-19 World Cup final at the same venue after blasting 68 against Afghanistan in the semi-finals, helping India lift a record sixth title.
The innings also marked a timely return to form after scores of 14, 13 and 15 in his first three T20Is against England.
Earlier in the day, fellow Rajasthan Royals leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi returned economical figures of 1/24 from his four overs as India restricted Zimbabwe to 125, laying the foundation for the chase.
Sooryavanshi has now hit 81 T20 sixes in 2026, the most by an Indian this year. A record 72 of those sixes came during IPL 2026, where he amassed 776 runs at a staggering strike rate of 237.
