At 15, India’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is youngest among TIME’s 100 rising stars

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is only 15, but his name is already making big noise in a positive way.

The Indian cricket sensation has been named in TIME magazine’s TIME100 Next 2026, a list recognising 100 emerging figures who are shaping the future across sport, entertainment, business and other fields.

What makes his inclusion even more special is his age. Sooryavanshi is the youngest person on the entire 2026 list and the only Indian athlete selected this year.

For those who have followed his incredible rise, perhaps it should not come as a surprise.

Earlier this year, Sooryavanshi broke one of Indian cricket’s longest standing records when he made his senior India debut against England in Manchester.

He was just 15 years and 99 days old, becoming the youngest male cricketer to represent India at international level.

The record previously belonged to none other than Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days old when he made his India debut against Pakistan in Karachi in November 1989. It meant Sooryavanshi had broken a record that had stood for nearly 37 years.

And he is now following another impressive list of Indian sporting names into TIME100 Next.

Sprinter Dutee Chand was part of the inaugural list in 2019, India women’s cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur was included in 2023, while Yashasvi Jaiswal made the list in 2025.

Sooryavanshi’s journey has moved at extraordinary speed. He made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals at just 14 before becoming one of the biggest young names in world cricket.

He then helped India win the 2026 Under 19 World Cup, smashing 175 from just 80 balls in the final against England.

A few months later came the senior India debut and the end of Tendulkar’s 37 year record.

Now comes TIME100 Next.

And Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is still only 15. He is going to break many more records.