Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Named Only Indian Athlete in TIME 100 Rising Stars List

Indian teenage cricketer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been named in TIME magazine’s TIME 100 Next, an annual list recognising rising stars who are shaping the future.

The 15-year-old Bihar cricketer is the only Indian athlete included in the 2026 list. He is also the youngest person featured and one of seven athletes selected.

TIME placed Sooryavanshi in its ‘Phenom’ category, describing him as a rapidly emerging figure in global sport. TIME CEO Jessica Sibley said the people featured on this year’s list were pushing boundaries, creating new possibilities and advancing their respective fields and communities.

Sooryavanshi’s rise in professional cricket has been rapid. He made his senior-level First-Class debut for Bihar in the Ranji Trophy in 2024 at the age of 12, becoming one of the youngest Indians to play First-Class cricket.

Ahead of the 2025 IPL season, the Rajasthan Royals acquired him for Rs 1 crore. He made an immediate impact in his debut IPL season, scoring 252 runs in seven innings. His performances included a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans, which was then the fastest century by an Indian batter in IPL history.

In his second IPL season in 2026, Sooryavanshi produced a bigger run-scoring campaign. He scored 776 runs, including one century and five half-centuries, and finished as the tournament’s highest run-scorer according to the report.

He also hit 72 sixes in 16 matches, surpassing the previous IPL record of 52 sixes set by Chris Gayle.

His performances earned him an international debut for India in July against England in a T20I at Manchester. At 15, he became the youngest male player to represent India, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s previous record.

Since his debut, Sooryavanshi has played six T20Is and scored 193 runs, with a highest score of 81 against Zimbabwe.

He is also part of India’s Asian Games cricket squad. In List A cricket, he made headlines in June by scoring the fastest List A half-century in the report’s account, reaching the milestone in 11 balls during India A’s Tri-Nation series final against Sri Lanka A in Colombo.

He was later appointed vice-captain of the East Zone team that won the Duleep Trophy in August.

The other athletes included in TIME’s list are American quarterback Arch Manning, NBA player Tyrese Maxey, footballers Naomi Girma and Folarin Balogun, tennis player Alexandra Eala and basketball player Olivia Miles.