Explained: Why 16-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Cannot Play 2028 U19 World Cup

Last Updated:February 07, 2026, 15:48 IST

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi leads India to a sixth U19 World Cup title with a record 175 against England, as BCCI rules shape youth cricket careers.

Star India batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on Friday played a match-winning knock against England in the final of the U19 World Cup, taking India to their sixth title in the biennial marquee event. He smacked 175 runs to take India to a first-innings total of 411, which proved too much for England to chase down.

At just 14, Sooryavanshi has already lived a brilliant journey, becoming an IPL crorepati, smashing the league’s youngest-ever hundred and starring in a dream U19 World Cup final with a match-turning 175.

Having shattered every batting record in youth cricket, short of a double hundred, it is thrilling to imagine what Sooryavanshi could achieve by 19. Yet one distinction will always elude him: becoming a multi-time U19 World Cup winner.

Over the past decade, the BCCI has ruled that one cricketer cannot take part in more than one edition of the U19 World Cup. The BCCI approved the junior committee’s recommendation at its working committee meeting in June 2016.

News cricket Explained: Why 16-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Cannot Play 2028 U19 World Cup

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