Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, named only Indian on TIME100 NEXT list alongside 6 global athletes
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, named only Indian on TIME100 NEXT list alongside 6 global athletes")
Sooryavanshi only Indian on TIME100 NEXT list alongside 6 global athletes Photograph: (BCCI)
15-year-old Indian cricket prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made the TIME100 Next list. The youngest India player ever won the IPL 2026 Orange Cap with 776 runs after making his First-Class debut at 12.
India's teenage cricket prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues to scale new heights, but this time it is off the field. Sooryavanshi has been named in TIME magazine's TIME100 Next list of 'rising stars who are shaping the future' as one of seven athletes, the only cricketer, and the sole Indian athlete on the list. The 15-year-old's stock has risen rapidly ever since making his First-Class debut in the Ranji Trophy (India's premier red-ball multi-day tournament) in 2024 for Bihar at the age of 12. Sooryavanshi has been featured in the magazine's 'Phenom' category, with TIME stating that the batter "is fast becoming one of global sport’s most electrifying figures".
Who Else Is on the List?
Apart from Sooryavanshi, the other six athletes featured in the TIME100 Next list are:
Arch Manning — American college football quarterback for the Texas Longhorns
Tyrese Maxey — Point guard for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers
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Naomi Girma — Defender for the United States Women's National Soccer Team
Alexandra Eala — Women's tennis player from the Philippines
Folarin Balogun — United States Men's National Soccer Team player
Olivia Miles — Guard for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx
Rise of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Sooryavanshi has taken the cricketing world by storm since making his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in 2024. He was picked by IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals shortly after for INR 1 crore in 2025. In his maiden IPL season, he announced himself with a sensational hundred, despite playing only seven matches (252 runs at a strike rate of 206).
In IPL 2026, Sooryavanshi upped the ante and smashed 776 runs to win the Orange Cap for most runs in the season, which came at a strike rate of 237. In the months after, Sooryavanshi made his India debut in the third T20I against England in July — making him the youngest player to play for India ever. So far, he has played six T20Is for India, smashing 193 runs at a strike rate of 189 with two fifties and a high score of 81.
