Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who represents Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, became the youngest Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal after the Men in Blue beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the final in Nisshin on Saturday.
Aged 15 years, six months and six days, Sooryavanshi surpassed shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, who was 16 years, three months and nine days old when he won the men’s 10m air pistol gold medal at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta.
Chaudhary remains the youngest Indian to win an individual Asian Games gold.
Sooryavanshi made a brisk 15 off nine balls, hitting two sixes, as India posted 211/6 in the Asian Games 2026 cricket gold-medal match. Pakistan finished on 192/6 in reply as India successfully defended the title they won in Hangzhou in 2023.
The 15-year-old batter had played a more substantial role in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, smashing 38 off 21 balls to give India a quick start on a challenging surface. India made 169/7 before bowling Sri Lanka out for 45 to win by 124 runs.
India’s quarter-final against Afghanistan was washed out, meaning Sooryavanshi finished his maiden Asian Games campaign with 53 runs from two innings at a strike rate of 176.66.
The Asian Games 2026 gold adds another entry to an extraordinary list of age-related records for the Bihar youngster.
Sooryavanshi became the youngest player in IPL history at 14 years and 23 days in 2025 before becoming the youngest centurion in men’s T20 cricket, aged 14 years and 32 days.
Earlier this year, he became the youngest Indian to play international cricket, making his T20I debut at 15 years and 99 days and surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record.
Sooryavanshi then became the youngest player to score a half-century in men’s international cricket, reaching the landmark against Zimbabwe at 15 years and 118 days.
His record-breaking IPL 2026 campaign also saw him become the youngest Orange Cap winner, finishing as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 776 runs in 16 matches. He struck a record 72 sixes during the season while also collecting the MVP, Emerging Player, Super Striker and Super Sixes awards.
