BENGALURU, September 1 — Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to score a fifty in the Duleep Trophy during East Zone’s semifinal against Central Zone, making 92 from 81 balls in an innings that combined a historic age record with another near-miss in the nineties.
The record
Sooryavanshi reached his half-century from 42 balls at the age of 15 years and 157 days. The previous record belonged to Laxman Singh, who was 16 years and 23 days old when he scored a fifty for Central Zone against North Zone in the 1968–69 season.
That makes this a record for the youngest Duleep Trophy fifty-maker. It should not be reported as a youngest-century record: Sooryavanshi was dismissed eight runs short of three figures.
How the innings developed
Central Zone made 266 before East Zone began its reply. Sooryavanshi attacked from the top of the order and was dropped shortly before reaching fifty. His opening stand with Abhimanyu Easwaran carried East Zone to 161 before the first wicket.
He attempted to hit Harsh Dubey for six on 92 and was dismissed. Easwaran made 69, but Central Zone took regular wickets after the opening partnership; the match account checked on Monday had East Zone at 260 for eight, six runs behind.
A pattern in the nineties
The 92 was reported as Sooryavanshi’s seventh dismissal in the nineties since November 2025 across competitions. That statistic describes a pattern, not a technical verdict. Several dismissals came while attacking, but a batter’s role, match situation and scoring rate matter when assessing the choice of shot.
The lasting achievement is the age record and the speed with which he changed the semifinal. Converting future starts will matter, but reducing this innings to the missing eight runs would overlook both the 161-run opening platform and a Duleep Trophy record that had survived for nearly six decades.
Archive photograph: cricketer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi meeting the Indian prime minister in May 2025. This is not a photograph from the Duleep Trophy innings. Photo: Prime Minister Office, Government of India, Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India.
