Promising young Indian cricketer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was on Wednesday named in TIME magazine’s Time100 Next 2026 list, which looks at the “world’s most influential rising stars”. Sooryavanshi is the only Indian to make the list.
“This year’s list-makers are pushing boundaries, creating new possibilities, and advancing their fields and communities around the world,” Jessica Sibley, CEO of TIME, said via an official press release.
TIME said “is fast becoming one of global sport’s most electrifying figures.”
Sooryavanshi is the only Indian athlete to feature in the list. Apart from him, footballers Folarin Balogun and Naomi Girma, tennis star Alexandra Eala, basketball players Olivia Miles and Tyrese Maxi and American football quarterback Arch Manning feature in the list.
Sooryavanshi rose to fame when he made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in 2025 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He made his debut at the age of 14 years and 23 days, making him the youngest-ever player to make his IPL debut.
The teenager slammed the fastest IPL century by an Indian during a match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2025. He did so in 35 deliveries, breaking the record of former Rajasthan Royals player Yusuf Pathan.
Sooryavanshi ended the IPL 2025 season with 252 runs from seven matches. He had a breakthrough campaign, winning the Orange Cap, amassing 776 runs from 16 innings at a strike rate of 237.30.
That performance eventually helped him receive his maiden call-up to the senior India squads for the away T20I series against Ireland and England. Although he didn’t get an opportunity to make his debut against Ireland, he did so during the five-match T20I series against England.
The Bihar-born cricketer also featured in the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in July, and finished as the highest run-getter in that series with 151 runs from three matches at a strike-rate of 196.10.
Earlier this year, the 15-year-old was also part of the India Under-19 squad that won the World Cup by beating England in the final. Sooryavanshi finished as India’s highest run-getter in the tournament with 439 runs from seven matches, and even scored 175 runs off 80 deliveries in the final.
Most recently, he was the vice-captain of the team that won the 2026 Duleep Trophy title. He aggregated 192 runs from five innings at a strike-rate of 104.92. This included one half-century that came against Central Zone in the semifinal in Bengaluru.
