» Cricket’s next big thing arrives with a bang – he is only 14

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The next big thing in cricket has just arrived and he is just 14.

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The baby-faced Vaibhav Suryavanshi is affectionately known as ‘Boss Baby’ because he resembles the animated character from the movie with the same title.

He doesn’t look like he has even had his first shave, but he has no fear of fast bowlers — he has taken them all to the cleaners.

In his first Indian Premier League match for Rajasthan Royals two weeks ago, he smacked fast bowler Avesh Khan of Lucknow for a six.

He announced his arrival with a bang and on Monday, this young lad who should be poring over his books in school shattered several records on his way to a magnificent century that left fans and experts around the world in awe.

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I couldn’t take my eyes off the television watching this marvel at bat as he made mincemeat of the best bowlers in the world. It was a joy to watch this left-handed batsman plunder 101 off just 35 balls — yes, 35 balls — in an innings that included seven fours and 11 sixes in Jaipur.

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For a player this young, he displayed brutal power as he decimated India pacemen Mohammad Siraj and Ishant Sharma, and later Washington Sundar and Rashid Khan, one of the world’s premier spinners.

Of personal satisfaction for him had to be his treatment of Sharma, who he clobbered for three sixes and two fours in one over. He then clubbed India all-rounder Sundar for two sixes and a four to bring up his half century off only 17 balls, the fastest in this star-studded league in 2025.

Suryavanshi raced to 94 when he belted Afghanistan fast bowler Karim Janat for three sixes and three fours and then crushed Rashid for a six to reach three figures.

He seemed to have an extra whip in every shot and has a style that resembles a pendulum swing. He reminded me of former India run-machine Yuvraj Singh, who played in the now-defunct GT20 League in Brampton in 2024. Yuvraj had a similar style and produced runs galore for India.

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Suryavanshi also will keep that scoreboard clicking at the local and international levels as he appears to be a finished product.

“It feels really good,” the teenager said following his knock. “It is like a dream to score a century in the IPL. What I’ve been practising for the last three, four months, the result is showing.”

Former India superstar and now coach of Rajasthan, Rahul Dravid, turned heads at the 2025 IPL draft when he picked the then 13-year-old Suryavanshi to play with the men. Rajasthan bid $200,000 US for his services and his decision is paying huge dividends.

Some of the established stars in the IPL are paid millions and it will be interesting how much of that will flow toward Suryavanshi at the auction for the 2026 season.

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His father, Sanjeev Suryavanshi, himself a club-level cricketer and a farmer, realized that his five-year-old son had the potential of making it to the big leagues but would need a good coach.

At eight years old, Sanjeev boarded a bus for a three-hour journey to Patna, where his son was trained and coached by Manish Ojha.

But this all came at a cost and that meant Sanjeev had to sell a plot of land to fund his dream of making his son a superstar. There were other sacrifices that had to made and that meant his mother had to wake up at 3 a.m. every morning to prepare breakfast for him. She would also make extra for the coaches.

The family still makes sacrifices, but the $200,000 earned from his first contract has made life much easier, said the father.

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Sachin Tendulkar, one of the world’s greatest batsmen, wasn’t totally surprised with the youngster’s record-breaking knock.

“Vaibhav’s fearless approach, bat speed, picking the length early and transferring the energy behind the ball was the recipe behind a fabulous innings.”

Others have followed Suryavanshi’s journey since 2024 after news filtered out about a youngster making his mark with the bat. He was scoring in major local tournaments such as the Heman Trophy, Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Challengers Trophy (U-19), and the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup.

Last year, he finally made his presence felt on the world stage by bludgeoning a 58-ball century against Australia in a youth Test in Chennai.

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In his historic IPL innings in Jaipur, Suryavanshi stitched a 166-run opening stand with India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who made 70 off 40 as Rajasthan chased down 210 in 15.5 overs.

U.S. PIPS CANADA

The U.S. defeated arch-rival Canada by six wickets with five balls to spare to take home the North America Cup in George Town in the Cayman Islands. Canada piled on 168 for nine and the U.S. replied with 169 for four in 19.1 overs. Jaskaran Singh hit five fours and four sixes off 26 balls for Canada while U.S. skipper Monank Patel led his team with a steady 70 for the victory.

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