Rajasthan Royals star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been included on the Time100 Next 2026 list, the magazine's annual pick of 100 global figures it expects to shape the future of fields ranging from sport, entertainment, politics and business.
At just 15 years old, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the youngest individual on this year's list and sits among seven sportspersons chosen for the honour.
American football quarterback Arch Manning, NBA player Tyrese Maxey, footballers Naomi Girma and Folarin Balogun, tennis player Alexandra Eala and basketball player Olivia Miles are the other athletes picked this year.
According to Time, Vaibhav is “fast becoming one of global sport’s most electrifying figures” and hailed his rise as meteoric.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shot into fame in 2024 after becoming the youngest player to sign for an Indian Premier League team after Rajasthan Royals successfully landed the then 13-year-old in the IPL 2025 auction.
He made his IPL debut the same season, aged 14, becoming the youngest player to feature in the competition.
Days later, he struck the fastest IPL hundred by an Indian batter and the second-quickest in the league overall, an innings that also made him the youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket.
The Bihar teenager's stock has only risen over the past year.
A standout IPL 2026 season for the Royals saw him finish as the youngest Orange Cap and Emerging Player of the Year winner in the tournament's history.
Sooryavanshi has since broken into the senior India setup. He made his T20I debut against England in 2026, becoming the youngest Indian to play international cricket and breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record.
In only his second T20I series, he finished as the overall top scorer as India completed a 3-0 away sweep of Zimbabwe.
He made two half-centuries in the three-match series, including a 50 from 19 balls in the opener that made him the youngest player to register a fifty in men's international cricket. He signed off with 81 off 49 at Harare.
Alongside the senior breakthrough, Sooryavanshi has rewritten a string of age-group records, and earlier in 2026 he guided India to the Under-19 World Cup crown with a hundred in the final against England.
Vaibhav is currently playing for India in the Asian Games 2026. He made his debut in the multi-sport competition in the semi-finals against Sri Lanka on Thursday. He scored a 21-ball 38, of which 36 runs came through boundaries.
