Bihar have sprung a quiet surprise by naming Vaibhav Suryavanshi, still only 14, as vice-captain for the first two fixtures of this season’s Ranji Trophy, which gets under way on 15 October. Batter-keeper Sakibul Gani remains captain. The appointment, confirmed late on Monday, covers only the opening fortnight, as the teenager is expected to be away with India Under-19s once World Cup preparations begin in earnest.
“Age isn’t the point here,” Gani said at training in Patna. “He’s in form, he reads situations, and the lads already listen to him.” Coach Pramod Singh echoed the sentiment, noting that “a short spell in leadership now could speed up his learning curve before the Under-19 World Cup”.
The selection itself came after a bit of administrative scrambling. The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) was instructed by the BCCI to put together a five-member senior selection panel but, with the clock ticking, managed only two. A third selector has been added temporarily so the squad could be finalised, with a full panel promised “as soon as practical”, according to a BCA release.
Suryavanshi’s recent numbers help explain the promotion. On India Under-19’s tour of Australia in September he belted a 78-ball hundred in Brisbane and finished the multi-day series with 133 runs in three knocks, India winning 2-0. Earlier in the summer, he thumped 143 off 82 in Worcester, the quickest youth one-day hundred on record, part of 355 runs at a strike rate topping 170.
Those feats contrast with his fledgling first-class record: five matches since debuting aged 12, 100 runs in total, best of 41. “People forget he’s barely had back-to-back games in the Ranji set-up,” former Bihar opener Amitabh Yadav said. “Give him 10 innings in a row and his numbers will jump.”
IPL followers will remember the lad’s 101 off 38 balls for Rajasthan Royals in April – the youngest men’s T20 hundred. Across seven IPL matches he stacked up 252 runs at over two-a-ball. That strike-rate caught the eye nationally, though Bihar’s own campaign last season was grim: no wins, just one point, and relegation to the Plate league.
Bihar start at home to Arunachal Pradesh before travelling to Nadiad to meet Manipur on 25 October. Points – not headlines – are the currency now. “The Plate is unforgiving,” Gani admitted. “Any slip and you’re chasing the table all season.”
Behind the scenes, rumours persist that bigger states are monitoring Suryavanshi. The BCA insist there is no immediate threat of him moving. “We’ve mapped out a clear pathway for Vaibhav,” association secretary Rakesh Pathak said. “Retention is about opportunity, not paperwork.”
Even so, with the Under-19 World Cup pencilled in for early 2026, Bihar accept that their new vice-captain is unlikely to be around for every Ranji round. Suryavanshi himself is relaxed. “I’ll play what I can,” he told local reporters. “If I do disappear for the World Cup, I’ll come back a better player.”
Squad: Piyush Kumar Singh, Bhashkar Dubey, Sakibul Gani (capt), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (vice-capt), Arnav Kishor, Ayush Loharuka, Bipin Saurabh, Amod Yadav, Nawaz Khan, Sakib Hussain, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Sachin Kumar Singh, Himanshu Singh, Khalid Alam, Sachin Kumar.
First match, first challenge; and for a 14-year-old, a first taste of formal leadership in India’s premier first-class competition. Imperfect timing perhaps, but then cricket careers rarely run to tidy schedules.
