A close friend of IPL’s young star Vaibhav Suryavanshi, thirteen-year-old Ayan Raj made headlines after scoring an astounding unbeaten 327 runs off merely 134 balls during a district cricket match held in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Representing Sanskriti Cricket Academy, Raj left spectators in awe with his remarkable batting performance, which included 41 fours and 22 sixes across the 30-over game. Remarkably, borders alone created an astounding 296 of his runs. His batting ability drew great praise, and his strike rate of 220. 89 underlined his raw control on the field.
The 13-year-old cricketer shares a close relationship with Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who has had a major influence playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025, even being compared to the illustrious Sachin Tendulkar. Raj said he considers Vaibhav Suryavanshi a source of inspiration and has a great relationship with him. “Every time I talk to Vaibhav bhai, I get a special feeling. We used to play together when we were younger. Today, he has made a big name for himself, and I’m also following in his footsteps.”
Encouragement for the next generation of cricketers, including Vaibhav Suryavanshi, has come from Yuvraj Singh’s father, a former Indian cricketer. He has asked them to give fitness first attention. Although he praised the young talents for their successes in smaller forms, Yograj underlined that the demands of Test cricket are what define actual greatness.
Yograj told an insider, “My vision is Test cricket. Can you survive five days? That’s the real test. 50 overs – fair enough. 20 overs- fair enough. I don’t go by these formats. But since they (formats) are there, you should be fit enough to play all three formats. Why do you struggle? Because you are only concentrating on T20, IPL and 50 overs. Aj toh 50 overs bhi nahi khel sakte hum log (Today, we cannot even play 50 overs). That’s the way we are.”
