Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: A 15-Year-Old's Impact in Duleep Trophy Final

At 15, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shouldn’t be dictating the rhythm of a Duleep Trophy final. Not in theory, at least.

In reality, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the East Zone vice-captain spent Day 3 doing exactly that.

East Zone had already crushed South Zone under a mountain of runs, their 708 built on a commanding 270 from captain Ishan Kishan. With that kind of total, the script usually slows: the bowlers plug away, the batters chip back, the game drifts.

Sooryavanshi refused to let it drift.

A teenager takes charge of DRS

The first moment came with Ricky Bhui at the crease and South Zone starting to look settled. Mukesh Kumar angled one down the leg side, Bhui glanced at it, there was a noise, an appeal, and then… nothing. The umpire stayed still, the batter stayed put.

Most teams move on there. A shrug, a few words, back to the mark.

Not this time. Not with a 15-year-old parked at short leg and absolutely certain he’d heard something.

Sooryavanshi went straight to Kishan. Animated. Insistent. “Take it… take it,” he could be heard urging on the stump mic, a clip the BCCI quickly pushed out on social media. Kishan backed his young deputy. The ‘T’ went up.

UltraEdge told the rest of the story. Clear spike, faint edge, and wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra doing the rest. Bhui had to go, and East Zone had cracked open a partnership that threatened to drag South Zone back into the contest.

One review. One teenager. One crucial wicket.

It wasn’t just a good call; it was a high-pressure decision made by a player barely old enough to drive. And it wasn’t an accident.

Standing in for Kishan, thinking like a veteran

Later in the session, with tea approaching and South Zone 174 for 4, the game wandered into one of those quiet passages. Kishan had gone off the field. Sooryavanshi, still in his mid-teens, found himself as acting captain in a Duleep Trophy final.

He didn’t hide behind the situation. He grabbed it.

Mohammed Shami had already bowled a hard spell earlier, walked off after seven overs, and needed physio attention to his neck. He’d only had two short bursts after lunch. Conventional thinking might have been to hold him back, protect the veteran, wait for the new ball or the next session.

Sooryavanshi went the other way. Sensing a window before tea, he threw the ball back to Shami for a sharp, attacking burst.

The impact was immediate. Shami went after Smaran Ravichandran, last season’s highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy, with the sort of relentlessness that has defined his international career. He pushed one outside off, Ravichandran chased, there was a noise again, a catch behind again… and another ‘not out’ from the umpire.

This time, it was Kushagra who pushed for the review. Once more, the technology backed East Zone. UltraEdge showed the edge, Ravichandran walked, and South Zone slipped to 176 for 5.

On the scorecard, it will go down as Shami’s wicket. In the story of the day, it was another moment shaped by Sooryavanshi’s willingness to attack, to use his senior pro at exactly the right time.

Two major dismissals. Two reviews. One teenager in the middle of both.

A pattern, not a one-off

What stood out at Chepauk wasn’t just instinct on a single day. This has been building through the Duleep Trophy.

In the semifinal against Central Zone in Bengaluru, Aryan Juyal had been cruising on 46. Mukesh Kumar found his outside edge, or so East Zone thought. The appeal went up, the umpire said no, and uncertainty crept in. Fielders glanced at each other, the clock ticked, the chance seemed to be slipping.

Sooryavanshi stepped in again. He waited, weighed it, then called for the review at the last possible moment. The gamble? It wasn’t really one for him. He trusted what he’d heard and seen.

UltraEdge flashed another spike. Juyal was out. Another key wicket, another turning point, another teenager reading the game like someone who has been around domestic cricket for a decade.

Across this campaign, his reviews have started to feel less like lucky calls and more like a trademark.

More than just a batting prodigy

Sooryavanshi has already drawn attention for his batting, the weight of runs making him one of the most talked-about young names in Indian cricket. Yet this Duleep Trophy run has peeled back another layer.

He has spoken openly about wanting to contribute with the ball too, with a smile that carried just enough mischief to sound like a warning. In a video shared by BCCI Domestic, he joked that Ishan Kishan didn’t quite know what he was unleashing.

“Opponent team's wickets weren't falling, so I was asked to bowl two or three overs. Ishan Bhaiya felt like he was taking a risk, but he didn't know that I am a wicket-taker,” he said.

That line reveals plenty. A teenager who doesn’t see himself as just a run-maker, but as a problem-solver. Someone who wants the ball, wants the big calls, wants the heat of the moment.

At Chepauk, that mindset spilled into his field leadership. A brave DRS call. A bold decision to bring back Shami at a critical juncture. A willingness to step up with Kishan off the field.

East Zone’s 708 and Kishan’s 270 will headline the scorecards. Shami’s name will sit next to Ravichandran’s wicket. Mukesh Kumar will be credited with Bhui’s dismissal.

But in the shadows of those numbers, a 15-year-old kept tugging at the game’s threads, pulling them East Zone’s way.

If this is how he reads a four-day final before he’s even finished school, what happens when he’s the one wearing the captain’s armband for good?