At the age of 14, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has taken the world by storm and established himself among the best young players in the world. Not only has the Rajasthan Royals (RR) star become a household name in India, but he has also won over the hearts of fans across the world.

The teenager, who first made news for making his first-class debut for Bihar at age 12, impressed one and all by making his debut for the Indian U-19 team last year. He was then signed for a whopping Rs. 1.1 crore by RR in the 2025 IPL Mega Auction.

RR's decision to spend over a crore on a 13-year-old was widely debated, but the left-handed batter proved he had mettle and was not just hype. In the 2025 IPL, Suryavanshi came into the playing XI after an injury to Sanju Samson and left a lasting impression with 252 runs in seven innings at an average of 36 and a stunning strike-rate of 206.56.

The most notable performance was a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans (GT), making him not just IPL's youngest centurion but also the quickest Indian and second-fastest overall behind Chris Gayle.

The signing of Suryavanshi is without a doubt one of RR's greatest success stories, which paints their scouting team in a bright light. Sri Lankan cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara credited a team analyst for the discovery and claimed they first saw him in 2023 (when he was 11 or 12) and claimed the person predicted him to be a special player at that stage itself.

“Vaibhav Suryavanshi had already shown himself to be a very special talent. In 2023, one of Rajasthan Royals' analysts sent through a text saying, 'there's a very special player we need to watch, get to the trials and look to sign',” said Sangakkara in an interaction with SKY SPORTS.

“The first time I saw him live was after we had signed him, in the nets in Guwahati, batting against Jofra Archer and the other seamers that we had. And he made it look very, very easy. He had a lot of time," Sangakkara further revealed his first impression of the Indian teenage prodigy.

The ex-Sri Lankan captain went into detail on Suryavanshi's brilliance and stated that he is only to keep getting better.

"The sound off his bat was like a gunshot every single time he contacted the ball. His bat swing is lovely, it's nice and wide outside the off-stump. And it's very free-flowing. He's got a lot of time, his movements are very, very simple and minimal, and he's very enthusiastic about developing his shot repertoire.

“And he has all the shots that you want in a T20 batter. This is just the start for him. He will become even better, and hopefully, very, very special," said Sangakkara.

Post the 2025 IPL, Suryavanshi has only grown in stature with brilliant displays in India U-19 team's ongoing tour of England during both the ODI and Test series.