Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his online speech opening the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) on Sunday, narrated the inspiring story of Bihar's teen sensation, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, as a motivation for young sportsmen and sportswomen across the country.
PM Modi highlighted Vaibhav's tireless hard work and outstanding achievements, calling upon the youth to strive for excellence through hard work and determination. "We have all seen the remarkable performance of Bihar's son, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, in the IPL.Vaibhav has created a mammoth record at such a young age. Hard work is behind his success, but playing at different levels has helped greatly as well. This proves the reality – 'jo jitna khelega, wo utna khilega' (The more you play, the more you grow)," Modi added.
Vaibhav's story is really incredible. He was only 14 years old when he became the youngest player to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He created headlines during his third match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium by becoming the youngest to hit a century in IPL history, doing so in just 35 balls against Gujarat Titans. This was also the quickest century by an Indian player, beating Yusuf Pathan's earlier record of 37 balls.
Vaibhav's cricketing career also included him debuting for Bihar in first-class cricket in January 2024 at the age of 12 years and 284 days. In his very first match, he scored 71 runs on 42 deliveries against Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, becoming the youngest Indian to have made a List-A fifty.
Internationally, Vaibhav made history by registering the fastest Indian youth Test century when he scored the ton in only 58 balls in a match against Australia at Chennai. He was also instrumental in India's run to the ACC U19 Asia Cup final after making two valuable half-centuries.
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