Teenage phenomenon Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will play his first captaincy role in senior cricket as he was named captain of Bihar for the first two matches of the 2026-27 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The 15-year-old will captain the state side in the country's premier T20 competition starting on November 14.

A 17-member squad was announced by Bihar Cricket Association (BCA)'s selection committee for the first two matches of the tournament, to be played in Indore. The young starlet is expected to play for Bihar and then join the India A squad for the upcoming Rising Stars Asia Cup later this month. It is another milestone in the fast-rising star's career as he has already made an impact on the international and domestic stage.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gets first senior captaincy opportunity after India U19 experience

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has had the chance to lead the Bihar Ranji set-up before as vice-captain in the first two games last season, with Sakibul Gani as captain. The left-hander made his first-class debut for Bihar against Mumbai in January 2024 when he was only 12 years old.

Sooryavanshi has also led the India Under-19 side in age-group cricket. He captained them in their three-match Youth ODI series against South Africa in January as regular captain Ayush Mhatre missed out due to injury. He also featured in the Indian squad that won the Under-19 World Cup in February, but Mhatre led in the competition.

Sooryavanshi has just returned from playing in the just-concluded T20I series against New Zealand. However, there have not been many opportunities to play internationally, with veteran openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson ahead of him in India's preferred top-order. The youngster played two games on the tour.

In one of these games, he put in a stunning display. He hit 45 runs off just 19 balls in the third T20I in Wellington. He formed an explosive opening partnership with Abhishek as they put together a record opening partnership of 118 runs off the first six overs.

Abhishek scored a blistering 113 off 38 balls as India chased down the 199 target.

BCA president Harsh Vardhan is confident Sooryavanshi can take on the role of captain, and it will allow him to develop his leadership skills.

“Vaibhav has already demonstrated tremendous talent, confidence and maturity at a young age. We are hopeful that under his leadership, the team will deliver a disciplined and competitive performance.”

Bihar have been placed in group B with Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Railways, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu. They will kick off their campaign against Saurashtra in Indore on November 14.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Ayush Loharuka and Anmol Kumar are included in the squad, with Suraj Kashyap being named vice-captain. Mangal Mahour and Shakib Hussain have been rested by the selection committee, and their availability will be tested after the first two games.

Bihar squad – Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026-27:

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (C), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (WK), Altamash Ashraf, Param Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (WK), Ritwik Raj, Suraj Kashyap (VC), Mayank Kumar, Raghvendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Pratap Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amod Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan, Himanshu Singh.

Reserve: Bipin Saurabh, Suman Kumar, Akash Raj, Khalid Alam, Bhaskar Dubey, Kumar Rajnish, Suyash, Abhijeet Saket, Yashasvi Rishabh, Lakhan Raja, Pawan Kumar, Amit Chaudhary, Piyush Singh, Bhanu Kumar, Lokesh Babulal Kumar, Prashant Srivastava.