Teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi was touted as "Indian cricket's next superstar" on Tuesday after the 14-year-old's IPL century off 35 balls shattered batting records.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Left-handed opener Suryavanshi became the youngest player to hit a Twenty20 hundred in Rajasthan Royals' thumping eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans on Monday. "It is like a dream," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Suryavanshi, in his only third Indian Premier League match, scored the second fastest century in competition history, second only to Chris Gayle's 30-ball ton in 2013.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Nicknamed "Boss Baby", Suryavanshi has drawn instant comparisons with West Indies great Gayle who styled himself as the "Universe Boss".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Suryavanshi, who made headlines when bought by Rajasthan for $130,500 after a bidding war at the November auction when aged 13, has been fearless in the face of seasoned opponents.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He announced himself on debut earlier this month by launching his first ball in the IPL for six off experienced India pace bowler Shardul Thakur as on his way to a quickfire 34 off 20 balls.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Nine days later in Jaipur, Suryavanshi destroyed a bowling attack containing India's Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma and Washington Sundar, shredding reputations as he hit 94 of his 101 runs in boundaries -- 11 sixes and seven fours.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- 'Carnage' -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n "Vaibhav's fearless approach, bat speed, picking the length early, and transferring the energy behind the ball was the recipe behind a fabulous innings", India cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar wrote on social media. "Well played!"<\/p>\r\n\r\n Suryavanshi took 28 in one over off veteran quick Sharma on his way to a 17-ball fifty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n He then gave Afghanistan pace bowler Karim Janat a debut to forget, blasting 30 runs -- three sixes and three fours -- off his first IPL over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Rajasthan head coach Rahul Dravid, who has a broken leg, still managed to get out of his wheelchair to celebrate when Suryavanshi hit a six off Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan to bring up his century.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "Have you ever seen anything like this?" former Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch posted on social media.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "What a talent!"<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n India's 1983 World Cup-winning batsman Kris Srikkanth lauded the teenager's "composure, class and courage" beyond his years, adding "Indian cricket's next superstar is here".<\/p>\r\n\r\n India's T20 skipper and Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav said it had been "carnage of an innings" and "absolutely insane!"<\/p>\r\n\r\n Suryavanshi, who can also bowl spin, comes from India's poorest state, Bihar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n He made his domestic debut aged only 12 in the Ranji Trophy in January 2024, then was selected for India's under-19 squad against a touring Australia team.<\/p>\r\n\r\n