Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won his maiden Man of the Match award (source: X.com)
After a quiet England tour, Indian prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi left his mark during the recently concluded three-match T20I series between India and Zimbabwe in Harare.
Sooryavanshi’s international career began on a sedate note on the UK tour, but, true to his reputation, he bounced back with a player-of-the-series performance, accumulating 151 runs in 3 innings with a whopping strike rate of 196.10.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi becomes the youngest player to win Player of the Match for India
The 15-year-old signed off from the tour with the Player of the Match award for his 81 in 49 balls in the third T20I. For his impressive knock, Sooryavanshi won his maiden POTM award in his international career.
With this, he became the youngest Indian player to win the award in the history of cricket. After winning the award, the teenage sensation said, “It felt very good. It is a dream come true for me. First man of the match and man of the series. The preparation here has been good."
That being said, in this article, let’s take a look at the list of Youngest players to win the man of the match award for India.
5) 18 years 300 days – Yuvraj Singh, India vs Australia 1st QF, Nairobi (Gym), 2000
Yuvraj Singh at 18 years and 300 days won his first career Player of the Match award after scoring a brilliant 84 off 80 balls against Australia in the 1st Quarter-Final of the ICC KnockOut Trophy on October 7, 2000, at Nairobi.
Singh stepped in at 90/3 after losing legends Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid, smashing 12 boundaries in his 84-run masterclass against an Australian attack featuring Glenn Mcgrath and Brett Lee.
4) 18 years 295 days – Ravi Shastri, India vs New Zealand 3rd Test, Auckland, 1981
Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri made his international debut on February 21, 1981, and only a month later, he won his first player of the match award after taking 7 wickets in the 3rd Test against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, in March 1981.
Also read: List Of Indian Cricketers Who Have Made T20I Debut In Zimbabwe, Ft. Ashok Sharma
For almost a decade, he held the record for the youngest player to win the player of the match trophy for India, until a teenage prodigy named Sachin Tendulkar came into the picture, who soon broke all age-based records.
3) 17 years 225 days – Sachin Tendulkar, India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI, Pune, 1990
Sachin Tendulkar won his first-ever One Day International Player of the Match award on December 5, 1990, at the age of 17 years and 225 days against Sri Lanka in Pune. He delivered a stellar all-round performance, scoring his maiden ODI half-century to guide India to a victory.
2) 17 years 112 days – Sachin Tendulkar India vs England 2nd Test, Manchester, 1990
37-years back, when Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored his first international hundred in a Test match against England at Old Trafford.
At the age of 17 years and 112 days, he became the third-youngest batter to score a Test ton. The knock also earned Tendulkar his first Player of the Match award, becoming the then-youngest Indian to win the Player of the Match honour.
1) 15 years 121 days – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, India vs Zimbabwe 3rd T20I, Harare, 2026
The boss baby from Bihar, on July 26 2026, added another milestone to his remarkable start in international cricket after becoming the youngest to win Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards in men’s international cricket.
With this, he broke Sachin Tendulkar’s yet another 37-year-old record to become the youngest player to win the award for India.
The 15-year-old achieved the feat after starring in India’s 3-0 T20I series sweep over Zimbabwe. Sooryavanshi finished the series as the leading run-scorer of the series with 151 runs to his name.
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