The 2026-27 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy commenced on November 14. In their opening match, the Bihar team took the field under the captaincy of young opening batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi. By stepping out for the toss against Saurashtra, Vaibhav set a major world record in T20 cricket; he has become the youngest player in the world to captain a side in the T20 format—across both international and domestic cricket. In doing so, he surpassed the record previously held by Croatia’s Jack Vukusic. However, his performance with the bat in this match was modest; he was dismissed after scoring 18 runs off 12 balls.
Took charge of the team at the age of 15 years and 232 days
When the Bihar Cricket Association announced its squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they entrusted the captaincy to Vaibhav Suryavanshi. At just 15 years and 232 days old, he began his stint as a T20 captain. Prior to this, the record was held by Croatia’s Jack Vukusic, who captained a T20 side for the first time last year against Cyprus at the age of 17 years and 311 days.
By surpassing this mark, Vaibhav has established a new milestone. Meanwhile, in the context of Indian domestic T20 cricket, the record for the youngest captain was previously held by Mahipal Lomror, who led the Rajasthan side in the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the age of 18 years and 67 days.
To captain only in the first match
Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been assigned the captaincy of the Bihar team not for the entire tournament, but specifically for the opening match. According to Harvinder Singh, the chief selector of the Bihar Cricket Association, Vaibhav was available only for the opening match; hence, he was entrusted with the captaincy for this game.
Following the first match, Vaibhav will step down from his team responsibilities, and vice-captain Suraj Kashyap will take charge of the Bihar side. Vaibhav is set to travel to Qatar to participate in the Emerging Asia Cup as part of the India-A squad. Consequently, he will be able to play only the first match for Bihar in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
