IPL Emerging Player Of The Year Award Winners List

Sai Sudhasan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Source: X)

Over the years, the most coveted tournament in the world, the Indian Premier League (IPL), has produced several young performers who have gone on to become vital cogs for their national teams. 

IPL provides a platform for prodigious talents like Jasprit Bumrah in the past and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the present to practice and learn in an ecosystem filled with greats across the globe and eventually prove their mettle by becoming global cricket stars. 

To promote such young guns, IPL rewards the Emerging Player of the Season award to the tournament’s most outstanding young talent. 

Who is eligible for the Emerging Player of the Season award?

There’s a list of criteria that make a player eligible for the award. To be eligible for the IPL Emerging Player of the Year (or Emerging Player of the Season) award, a player must meet the following four strict criteria set by the IPL governing body, BCCI:

1. Uncapped Player: Must not have an international cap (must not have played more than 5 Test matches, 20 ODIs, or the equivalent T20Is) prior to or at the start of the season.
2. Age Limit: Must have less that 25 years old for example for IPL 2026, the player must be born on or after April 1, 2000.
3. Match Limit: Must have played 25 or fewer IPL matches prior to the start of that specific season.
4. One-Time Award: Must not have previously won the Emerging Player award in their career. 

Teenage prodigy wins the Emerging Player Of The Year Award in IPL 2026

Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won the IPL Emerging Player Of The Year Award for the 2026 season at the awards night. 

Sooryavanshi amassed 776 runs in 16 matches at a ridiculous strike rate of 237.30 and an average of 48.50. The southpaw, at 15 years and 65 days, became the youngest player to win the award, ahead of GT’s Sai Sudharsan, who won the award last season when he was 23 years old. 

Also read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's IPL 2026 Total Earnings Revealed

On top of that, the boss baby also became the first player to win both the MVP award as well as the Emerging Player in the tournament’s history, highlighting the remarkable season that the teenager had for his IPL franchise. 

IPL Emerging Player Of The Year Award Winners (2008-2026)

FAQs: IPL Emerging Player Of The Year Award

Q.1. What is the emerging player award in IPL? 

Ans. The Emerging Player of the Season Award is an IPL honour, given to the best young cricketer who has made a significant breakthrough in the respective season. 

Q.2. Who won the emerging player award in IPL 2026?

Ans. A fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won the Emerging Player Of The Year Award for IPL 2026. 

Q.3. Who is eligible for the emerging player award in IPL?

Ans. Only a player who is uncapped, aged less than 25, has played 25 or fewer IPL matches prior to the start of the current season, and must not have won the award previously in their career is eligible for the emerging player award in IPL. 

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