At 15, Vaibhav Suryavanshi Named Bihar Captain for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been named captain directly for the first time. He will lead Bihar in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament.

Vaibhav had previously led in India's domestic league in situational circumstances when the regular captain was absent. In the Duleep Trophy final, he captained East Zone for a period when Ishan Kishan went off the field, and he was vice-captain of his provincial side in the Ranji Trophy.

The Bihar Cricket Association's selection committee decided at a meeting on Friday to give Vaibhav the major responsibility for the upcoming T20 league.

Former India star Ravichandran Ashwin congratulated Vaibhav on the captaincy. He wrote that it is a very big responsibility for a young cricketer and offered his good wishes.

Bihar will hold trials with cricketers to form the final squad for the first two matches. The players' past performances will also be taken into consideration.

Vaibhav was in the squad for the five-match T20 series held in New Zealand, but India played him in only two matches. He scored 4 and 45 in those two matches, and his 118-run powerplay partnership with Abhishek Sharma in the third match drew wide attention.

Vaibhav has played 44 T20 matches so far, seven of them for Bihar. In the previous edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he scored an unbeaten 108 off 61 balls against Maharashtra at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Bihar have had a difficult start to the domestic season, losing all four of their matches in the first phase of the Ranji Trophy. Bihar will begin their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign against Saurashtra in Indore on November 14.