14-year-old Vaibhav Suryanshi faces off against Jofra Archer during RR’s net session

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], April 12 (ANI): 14-year-old India batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the youngest player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), faced off against fiery England pacer Jofra Archer in the nets ahead of their team’s clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Jaipur on Sunday.

RR posted a video of the face-off on their official X handle.

In the video, Archer was seen testing the youngster with his pace, line and lengths. Vaibhav also responded well to Archer, ducking him whenever needed and not being afraid to use his shots either.

Vaibhav is yet to play an IPL game. On the other hand, Archer has taken five wickets in five games at an average of 35.40, with best figures of 3/25.

During the IPL mega-auction last year, one of the biggest surprises that emerged was Suryavanshi becoming a Royal for Rs 1.1 crore. Born on March 27, 2011, in Bihar, Vaibhav is the youngest player on the list. He made his first-class debut for Bihar in January 2024 at just 12 years and 284 days old. Last year, he was part of India U19’s match against Australia in Chennai, where he smashed a 58-ball century.

He also made his T20 debut for Bihar during the SMAT 2024 tournament, though he could not score much in his only outing. He was also the seventh-highest run-getter in the ACC Under 19 Asia Cup 2024-25. He scored 176 runs in 5 matches in the tournament with a highest score of 76*.

Coming to the RR-RCB clash, this will be RR’s first game at their primary home venue, Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. RR is at the seventh spot, with two wins and three losses in five games and their last game was a loss to Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad.

RCB on the other hand, is in the fourth spot with three wins and two losses, giving them six points. Their previous game was a loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) in Bengaluru.