Vaibhav Suryavanshi made his IPL debut at the age of 13 years and 243 days.
The BCCI has announced that, starting next IPL season, players who are 16 years or younger must have played at least one First Class match to be eligible for the league. The decision was made at the latest Annual General Meeting (AGM), where several other notable changes were announced.
The idea behind this rule is to strengthen the domestic structure and ensure players develop skills for the longest format before the IPL stage, which is fast-paced and doesn’t allow time to hone the red-ball game. This will directly force budding players to focus more on red-ball cricket, which will benefit India in the long run.
One name that comes to mind after this rule is Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2025 at the age of 13 years and 243 days. Soon, he impressed everyone with his sublime hitting and also notched up the fastest IPL century by an Indian – the second-fastest overall – completing the milestone in just 35 balls.
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Since then, he has continued making rapid progress as a batter, including successful U19 tours to England and Australia. Vaibhav is among the most talented young batters and will soon be in India colours if he continues his form.
No, Vaibhav Suryavanshi won’t become ineligible to play in IPL despite the new rule for multiple reasons. Firstly, he had already made his FC debut before coming into the IPL, featuring for Bihar in a Ranji Trophy 2023/24 fixture against Mumbai.
He was only 12 years and 284 days when he made his FC debut and had already impressed selectors in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy before. Overall, Vaibhav had played as many as five red-ball matches for Bihar before making his IPL debut, suggesting he falls into this new rule.
Another thing is that the rule applies from the next season, and those who had played before were eligible even if they didn’t fall under the criteria. Only one other player – Prayas Ray Barman – has played in IPL before turning 17, for he made his debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2019 at 16 years and 157 days.
So, Vaibhav would have continued even if he had not made his FC debut because the rule doesn’t include previous players who are already part of the league. That said, other players in his age group will need to take the tougher route from now on, even if they are as skilled as Vaibhav.
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