Patna, Nov 6 (IANS) Teenaged batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will captain Bihar’s senior team for the first time after being named as their skipper for the opening two matches of the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
While announcing a 17-member squad on Friday, the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) named Suraj Kashyap as the side’s vice-captain. BCA president Harsh Vardhan said the role would aid Sooryavanshi’s development as a player.
Sooryavanshi has been named captain only for Bihar’s first two games because he is due to join the India A squad for the Men’s Rising Stars Asia Cup. The 50-over tournament will be held in Doha, Qatar, from November 19 to 29.
“Vaibhav has already demonstrated tremendous talent, confidence and maturity at a young age, and this responsibility will provide him with another opportunity to grow as a cricketer and leader.
“We are hopeful that under Vaibhav’s leadership, the team will deliver a disciplined, competitive and effective performance while representing the state in the upcoming season,” he said.
The captaincy comes on the back of a remarkable rise for Sooryavanshi. After making India win the 2026 Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup by hitting 175 in the final and becoming Player of the Tournament, the left-handed batter became the leading run-getter in IPL 2026 while turning out for the Rajasthan Royals with 776 runs coming at a strike rate of 237.30.
Those exploits earned him a place in the India T20I side, and he became the youngest international cricketer for the country by debuting in the second game against England in Manchester in July. In the recent third T20I against New Zealand, Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma put on 118 without loss in the first six overs - the highest powerplay total in men’s T20Is.
The pair added 133 for the opening wicket in just 43 balls. Sooryavanshi made 45 off 19 deliveries, while Abhishek smashed 113 off 38 balls. Overall, Vaibhav has scored 295 runs in ten T20Is at an average of 29.5 and strike rate of 185.53, including hitting two fifties.
Bihar’s squad was finalised at a meeting of the BCA’s senior men’s selection committee on Friday, after trials held from November 4 to 6 and a review of past performances was done. Committee Chairman Harvinder Singh and member Amitabh Vijayvargiya attended the meeting, while selector S. Sarath joined via telephonic call.
Mangal Mahour and pacer Sakib Hussain have also been picked, but subject to fitness. The selectors will assess them after the first two games before deciding whether they are available to play. Interestingly, the BCA has also named 16 standby players.
Bihar will play their first two matches against Saurashtra and Railways in Indore on November 14 and 16 respectively. The support staff of the state’s Ranji Trophy team will remain with the side for the whole tournament, while Harvinder and Vijayvargiya will travel to Indore to watch the matches.
Bihar squad: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (captain), Suraj Kashyap (vice-captain), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Altamash Ashraf, Param Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (wk), Ritwik Raj, Mayank Kumar, Raghvendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Pratap Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amod Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan, Himanshu Singh.
Subject to fitness: Mangal Mahour, Shakib Hussain.
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, Prashant Srivastava.
--IANS
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