Vaibhav Sooryavanshi named Bihar captain for opening Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches

Bihar’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi represents Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. | Photo Credit: PTI

Teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will lead Bihar’s senior team for the first time after being named captain of the 17-member squad for the opening two matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beginning on November 14.

Suraj Kashyap has been appointed vice-captain, the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) announced on Friday.

Bihar is in Group B alongside Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Railways, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu.

It will begin its campaign against Saurashtra on November 14 in Indore.

BCA president Harsh Vardhan said the captaincy would provide Sooryavanshi a chance to grow as a leader.

“Vaibhav has already demonstrated tremendous talent, confidence and maturity at a young age. We are hopeful that under his leadership, the team will deliver a disciplined and competitive performance,” he said.

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Sooryavanshi, who represents Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, has also made his India debut in T20Is, having played 10 matches so far.

He was the top run-scorer in IPL 2026, amassing 776 runs in 16 innings at a staggering strike rate of over 237.

He also smashed a match-winning 175 off 80 balls to guide India to a 100-run victory over England in the Under-19 World Cup final.

The left-hander recently featured in the third T20 International against New Zealand, scoring 45 off 19 balls in an opening stand of 133 with Abhishek Sharma.

Mangal Mahour and Shakib Hussain have been named subject to fitness assessments after Bihar’s first two matches.

SQUAD

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (captain), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Altamash Ashraf, Param Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (wk), Ritwik Raj, Suraj Kashyap (vice-captain), Mayank Kumar, Raghvendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Pratap Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amod Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan and Himanshu Singh.

Standbys: Bipin Saurabh, Suman Kumar, Akash Raj, Khalid Alam, Bhaskar Dubey, Kumar Rajnish, Suyash, Abhijeet Saket, Yashasvi Rishabh, Lakhan Raja, Pawan Kumar, Amit Chaudhary, Piyush Singh, Bhanu Kumar, Lokesh Babulal Kumar and Prashant Srivastava.