Rajasthan Royals' Director of High Performance, Zubin Bharucha, has made a strong case for 14-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi, urging India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar to seriously consider fast-tracking him into the senior national setup. Bharucha compared the Bihar-born left-hander’s rise to that of cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, who made his India debut at just 16.

Suryavanshi has already taken the cricketing world by storm. After earning a ₹1.10 crore IPL contract with Rajasthan Royals, the teenager made headlines by smashing the fastest century by an Indian in IPL history — reaching the milestone in just 35 balls against Gujarat Titans. His explosive performances haven’t been limited to the IPL. Earlier this year, he hit the fastest youth ODI century against England at Worcester and has impressed on overseas tours with India U19, including trips to England and Australia.

Despite being only 14, Suryavanshi made his first-class debut at 12 and quickly caught national attention after a remarkable century in a Youth Test against Australia U19. However, he has yet to be picked for India A — a step Bharucha believes is long overdue.

“He should be blooded into the senior team immediately, like Sachin was all those years ago,” Bharucha told The Times of India. “This guy is in another zone altogether. At least send him on an India A tour — I’m telling you, he’d get a double hundred against the current Australia A attack.”

Bharucha also shared a striking anecdote from an IPL 2025 training session, where Suryavanshi faced England pacer Jofra Archer in the nets. Known for his intensity in practice, Archer had once famously rattled Steve Smith during an Ashes warm-up. But when bowling to Suryavanshi, the young left-hander not only held his ground — he stunned everyone by launching a back-foot shot clean out of the stadium.

“I was scared when Archer ran in,” Bharucha admitted. “But Vaibhav just stood tall and smashed one that sailed out. Everyone — including Jofra — was stunned.”

With such performances at such a young age, calls are growing louder to accelerate Suryavanshi’s path to the national team — perhaps setting the stage for the next big story in Indian cricket.