Laxman Singh’s name had sat quietly at the top of a Duleep Trophy list for 57 years. It moved on Monday.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, still 15, reached fifty off 42 balls for East Zone against Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, taking the record for the tournament’s youngest half-centurion. Singh had set the previous mark at 16 years and 23 days in 1969.

The teenage opener went on to make 92 from 81 deliveries with seven fours and seven sixes, falling in the deep as he swung for the boundary that would have brought up his first hundred in first-class cricket. Eight runs short.

Kishan injured, teenager thrown in as captain

The batting was the second act of a whirlwind two days. On day one, East Zone captain Ishan Kishan was injured while keeping wicket, and 15-year-old vice-captain Sooryavanshi was thrown in as stand-in skipper during the 19th over of Central Zone’s innings. It made him the youngest player ever to lead a side in the Duleep Trophy.

Read also: Moses Itauma speaks out after surprise defeat and stretcher exit

He successfully sent a Central Zone opener on his way with a DRS review before returning to the pavilion with the ball still in East Zone’s hands.

A senior side he had barely known

Sooryavanshi came into the semi-final as Kishan’s deputy in a heavyweight East Zone dressing room that also includes Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar and Abhimanyu Easwaran, with whom he built the opening stand on Monday. The zonal selectors had handed him the leadership role despite him owning just 207 runs in 12 innings across eight first-class appearances.

The Bihar batter has had a habit of upending that kind of arithmetic. In April 2025 he became the youngest centurion in Indian Premier League history at 14, playing for Rajasthan Royals, and followed up by winning the Orange Cap as IPL 2026’s leading run-scorer, again the youngest to do so. In July 2026 he was named in India’s T20I side at 15 years and 99 days, becoming the country’s youngest ever international cricketer, ahead of a record long held by Sachin Tendulkar.

His maiden Duleep Trophy century will have to wait. Central Zone had earlier posted a first-innings total anchored by Yash Thakur’s unbeaten runs, and the first semi-final is scheduled to run until 2 September at the Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru.

Read also: Russell yielded to Antonelli at Zandvoort. Mercedes say that call was made before the race started

Read also: Liverpool's late winger push could pave way for Gakpo exit