Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breaks Sachin Tendulkar and Shahid Afridi’s RECORDS, becomes first-ever to…

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed 50 in 19 balls with 4 sixes against Zimbabwe in the opening match of three-game T20I series at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.

Published: July 24, 2026, 11:08 AM IST

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India’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi en route to scoring a fifty vs Zimbabwe in 1st T20 in Harare. (Photo: IANS)

IND vs ZIM 2026 1st T20: Team India opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had a slow start in international cricket but finally found his wings in the first game of three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Thursday. Sooryavanshi smashed his maiden fifty in T20I cricketer, hammering a 18-ball 50 in India’s seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe to go 1-0 up in the series.

At 15 years and 118 days, Sooryavanshi became the youngest-ever half-centurion in international cricket from Test playing nation. The Rajasthan Royals opener broke the record of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi. Sooryavanshi is the first-ever 15-year-old to achieve this feat.

While Tendulkar’s maiden international fifty had come in a Test match, Afridi had scored his maiden fifty and turned it into a century in ODI cricket. Tendulkar had scored his first half-century of his illustrious career against Pakistan at the age of 16 years and 213 days at Faisalabad in 1989.

Afridi, on the other hand, scored the then-fastest ever ODI century off only 37 balls at the age of 16 years and 214 days against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in 1996.

Here is a list of youngest cricketers scoring maiden fifty in international cricket (from Test-playing nations)

Former Pakistan batter Mushtaq Mohammad and former Bangladesh batter Mohammad Ashraful had also achieved this feat at the age of 17 in Test cricket.

Meanwhile, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer was full of praise for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He praised the young opener for his ‘fearless’ batting in the opening T20I.

“Exceptional batting by him (Sooryavanshi). He’s fearless youngster and the way he approached this innings was phenomenal. So, yeah, I think he’s played here before, so he’s got a fair idea about how the wickets are. He’s got 175 I guess in the under-19 final, so definitely possesses immense confidence when he steps onto the field. So, good to see it today,” Iyer said about Sooryavanshi after the match.

Sooryavanshi had earlier become the youngest-ever debutant for Team India at the age of 15 years and 99 days. He was fast-tracked into the Indian team after winning the Orange Cap in the IPL 2026 season for scoring 776 runs at a strike-rate of 237.3.

He also the highest six-hitting Indian batter in 2026 so far with 81 sixes in the season in T20 cricket, ahead of his opening partner Abhishek Sharma, who has 74.