Sooryavanshi becomes youngest captain in T20 history, leads Bihar in SMAT opener

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest captain in T20 history during the SMAT match between Bihar and Saurashtra. (PTI Photo)

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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on Saturday became the youngest captain in men’s T20 cricket history as he took the field to lead Bihar in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026-27 season opener.

Aged 15 years and 232 days, Sooryavanshi stepped up as the captain against the Jaydev Unadkat-led Saurashtra in the first match at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. Bihar won the toss and opted to bat first.

Sooryavanshi eclipsed the record previously held by Croatia’s Zach Vukusic who led his national side in a T20I at the age of 17y 311d last year.

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The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) announced a 17-member squad last Friday, with the dashing opener named captain for the first two matches. Suraj Kashyap was named vice-captain.

This is not Sooryavanshi’s first leadership assignment this year. He was named vice-captain of East Zone for the 2026-27 Duleep Trophy, serving as Ishan Kishan’s deputy.

Sooryavanshi was last in action during India’s T20I tour to New Zealand, featuring in two games and scoring 49 runs. While he has been named skipper for the first two matches in the domestic T20 tournament, Sooryavanshi is likely to fly out with the India A side for the Rising Stars Asia Cup tournament to be held in Qatar, starting November 19.

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Last year, Sooryavanshi also became the youngest to score a ton in SMAT history in a 58-ball century against Maharashtra. Sooryavanshi also holds the record of being the youngest T20 centurion, having smashed a 35-ball hundred for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2025 season.