Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 31 (ANI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi created history on Monday by becoming the youngest player to score a half-century in Duleep Trophy history during East Zone's semi-final clash against Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru.
At the age of 15 years and 157 days, Sooryavanshi reached the milestone (fifty) in just 42 balls, smashing a six off off-spinner Saransh Jain to complete his fifty and break a 57-year-old record during the first innings of East Zone.
A fifty off 42 balls for East Zone vice skipper Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 🫡👌 pic.twitter.com/u6q56bAx7D
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 31, 2026
The previous record was held by Laxman Singh, who scored a Duleep Trophy half-century at the age of 16 years and 23 days in the 1969 edition. India spinner Piyush Chawla had also achieved the feat at 16 years and 307 days in 2005.
Sooryavanshi, however, narrowly missed out on another historic achievement after being dismissed for 92 runs off 81 balls. Had he converted his knock into a century, he would have broken Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing record for the youngest Duleep Trophy centurion.
ICYMI | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi broke a 57-year-old record this morning 🥰 pic.twitter.com/r9ycdwFEvt
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 31, 2026
Tendulkar had scored a century in the 1990/91 Duleep Trophy at the age of 17 years and 262 days. A hundred would also have made Sooryavanshi the second-youngest Indian to score a First-Class century.
The record for the youngest Indian First-Class centurion remains with Dhruv Pandove, who scored a century for Punjab against Jammu & Kashmir in the 1988-89 Ranji Trophy season at 14 years and 293 days.
Coming to the contest, Central Zone were bowled out for 266 runs in their first innings after Rinku Singh's half-century helped them recover from early setbacks against East Zone in the first semifinal of the Duleep Trophy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru.
East Zone won the toss and elected to bowl first, with their pace attack keeping Central Zone under pressure throughout the opening day. Abhijit Sarkar, along with Mukesh Kumar and Mohammed Shami, led the bowling effort as Central Zone struggled to build momentum.
Central Zone opener Aryan Juyal provided some stability with a 46-run knock, while captain Rajat Patidar was dismissed for 12. Yash Rathod contributed 27 before Rinku Singh stepped up with a crucial 60 off 88 balls to rescue the innings.
Rinku found support from Harsh Dubey, who added 27 runs, as the pair shared a valuable partnership to take Central Zone towards a decent total. Central Zone eventually folded for 266 runs.
For East Zone, Abhijit Sarkar claimed three wickets, while the Bengal pace duo of Mukesh Kumar (three wickets) and Mohammed Shami (two wickets) also played key roles in restricting Central Zone.
In reply, East Zone started strongly with Abhimanyu Easwaran and his teammates putting together a solid response. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued to attract attention during the semifinal, having earlier become the youngest player to score a half-century in Duleep Trophy history at 15 years and 157 days. (ANI)
