India spin legend Harbhajan Singh says Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s audacious strokeplay is unparalleled in international cricket and any bowler looking to stop the 15-year-old will have to adopt an aggressive approach as containing him is not an option.
Asked how he would bowl to Sooryavanshi in a powerplay situation, the former India spinner said, “I won’t set the field according to what he’s doing. If I bowl to escape, I won’t be able to get him out. “When the world’s top bowlers are bowling to him, they are actually thinking about where to bowl. So how does one bowl to someone who refuses to be overawed by the bowler’s name, the occasion or the field? “The only way to survive is to attack him. “It may not work all the time. Sometimes you might even get smashed. He would’ve hit sixes. But that is part of the game. You have to accept that he’s good.
The teenager became the youngest player in IPL history when he made his Rajasthan Royals debut at 14 in 2025 and soon after became the youngest batter to score a century in men’s T20 cricket, smashing a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans. Sooryavanshi blasted 175 off 80 balls against England in the Under-19 World Cup final, the highest individual score in the history of the tournament’s finals, and was named Player of the Tournament as India lifted the title.
That itself is a big, big statement,” Harbhajan said. You go at him and you take his wicket,” Harbhajan said. I’ll set the field according to what I’m doing. “But still, the next ball should be about how to get him out,” Harbhajan said.
I have not seen a player like him before, one who can dominate the world at 14-15 years of age,” Harbhajan told PTI in a podcast interview. His remarkable rise continued this year as he became the youngest player ever to make an international debut for India when he played against England at Old Trafford at the age of 15 years and 99 days. “Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is extraordinary. He is a unique player.