15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi named Bihar captain for first two Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches
New Delhi: Teen sensation on Friday has been appointed as the captain of Bihar for the opening two matches of the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT 2026-27), which will begin on November 14.
He will lead Bihar’s 17-member senior team for the first time, with Suraj Kashyap named vice-captain. Bihar are placed in Group B along with Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Railways, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu.
They will open their tournament campaign against Saurashtra on November 14 in Indore. The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) president Harsh Vardhan said the captaincy would give Sooryavanshi a chance to develop his leadership skills.
“Vaibhav has already demonstrated tremendous talent, confidence and maturity at a young age. We are hopeful that under his leadership, the team will deliver a disciplined and competitive performance,” he said.
Sooryavanshi, who plays for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL, has also made his international debut for India in the T20I series against England, having played 10 games so far. He was the leading run-scorer in the IPL 2026, smashing 776 runs in 16 innings at a stunning strike rate of over 237.
He also smacked a match-winning 175 off 80 balls in the Under-19 World Cup final against England to help India clinch the title. The 15-year-old batter recently featured in the third T20I against New Zealand, hitting 45 off 19 balls in an opening partnership of 133 runs with Abhishek Sharma.
Bihar squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (captain), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Altamash Ashraf, Param Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (wk), Ritwik Raj, Suraj Kashyap (vice-captain), Mayank Kumar, Raghvendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Pratap Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amod Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan and Himanshu Singh.
Standbys: Bipin Saurabh, Suman Kumar, Akash Raj, Khalid Alam, Bhaskar Dubey, Kumar Rajnish, Suyash, Abhijeet Saket, Yashasvi Rishabh, Lakhan Raja, Pawan Kumar, Amit Chaudhary, Piyush Singh, Bhanu Kumar, Lokesh Babulal Kumar and Prashant Srivastava.