Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: A Man in a League of Boys
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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Source: BCCI)
Published - 06 Feb 2026, 10:12 PM• Read time - 3 mins
Centuries in Under-19 World Cup finals are special, but they tend to follow a familiar script: a composed innings, a steady build-up, and a final flourish. But India's 14-year-old sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, broke the monotony in Harare on Friday and rewrote the script.
His 175 off 80 balls in the 2026 U19 World Cup final was a performance that didn’t just win India their record-sixth title; it showcased a gulf between him and his peers.
England entered the final with one of the most ruthless bowling attacks of the tournament. They had bowled out five of their six opponents and came within a wicket of doing the same to Zimbabwe (208/9). Their strength lay in discipline, control, and relentlessness.
But all of those elements evaporated as Sooryavanshi raised the mercury at the Harare Sports Club and left the English with sweaty palms. He made them look feeble and ordinary, and it almost felt like getting hit for a four and not a maximum was a moral victory for the Thomas Rew-led side.
Sooryavanshi, who has yet to enter the 10th grade in school, dictated terms to the English attack and made it look like they were operating at his mercy. Every bowler England turned to met the same fate.
The contrast became even sharper when placed next to Caleb Falconer’s 63-ball century, a superb innings in isolation, yet rendered weightless by the sheer force of Sooryavanshi’s assault. Falconer’s hundred felt like a feather beside tonnes of steel.
Then came the records, a cascade that underlined the magnitude of the knock.
His 175 is now the highest individual score in a final or knockout match in Youth ODIs, surpassing Sameer Minhas’ 172. It is also the highest score by any batter in an ICC tournament final, senior or junior, overtaking Alyssa Healy’s 170 in the 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup.
For India, it stands as the highest Under-19 World Cup score and the second-highest Youth ODI score overall, behind Ambati Rayudu’s 177 not out in 2002.
15 sixes, the most ever in a Youth ODI innings. 30 boundaries, joint-most in the format. 150 runs in fours and sixes alone. A 150 reached in 71 balls, the fastest in Youth ODI history. A 55-ball hundred, the second-fastest in Under-19 World Cups. And a career tally of 110 sixes in 25 innings, more than double the next best.
These aren’t the numbers of a promising teenager. These are the markers of a player who has outgrown the level he is playing at.
But beyond the statistics, one truth stood tallest: Sooryavanshi looked like he didn’t belong in this age group. His dominance wasn’t youthful exuberance; it was seasoned authority. His hitting wasn’t reckless; it was calculated.
In a tournament built for boys, Sooryavanshi played like a man. On a warm afternoon in Harare, Sooryavanshi didn’t just separate India from England; he separated himself from everyone else. This wasn’t a boy winning a World Cup; it was a player far beyond his age group announcing that the gap between him and his peers is already too wide to ignore.
