Is Vaibhav Suryavanshi's IPL Participation Under Threat? BCCI's New Rule Explained

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), every year, has been putting in hard yards to make sure that the Indian Premier League (IPL) grows day by day. The league has been throwing exciting talents every year and it has been the major reason why Indian cricket is so strong.

The IPL acts as a great platform for all the young players who impress the franchises with performances in domestic circuit. The league allows players to get a lot of exposure by playing around with some of the big international players and proving their worth.

The IPL is one of the major reasons why young players, who make debut for India, try to make an impact from ball one. We have seen several players hitting sixes on first ball in international cricket and the reason behind that confidence has been the battle-readiness of players by playing in front of huge crowd.

IPL is often credited for given Indian cricket some of the best talents and last year was same. The Indian cricket found a gem in young 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who played for Rajasthan Royals (RR) and set the stage on fire. He became the youngest player in the league to hit a ton and also holds the record of second fastest century in league.

BCCI New IPL Rule For U16 & U19 Cricketers

Every year, the BCCI comes up with a new rule to make the league exciting. For the players of Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s age group, there isn’t any great news ahead of the IPL 2026. According to TOI, it is learned that the BCCI has made it mandatory for all the Under-16 and Under-19 cricketers to play at least one first-class match in order to be to be eligible to play in the IPL.

The BCCI didn’t have any any such rules in place earlier and it was all up to the franchises to pick any players in the auction. Notably, the franchises used to submit the names players of the players after holding trials or signings them as replacements mid season.

However, the addition of new rule means that there will be an immense competition among the U-16 players at the grassroot level to make it into the IPL. The BCCI U16 players rule shows the board's commitment towards players prioritizing first-class cricket before the IPL, the biggest cricket league in the world.

BCCI New IPL Rule a Threat For Vaibhav Suryavanshi?

It is to be noted that Suryavanshi is currently 14 years of age which means the rule could have applied on him as well. However, the new rule won’t affect Vaibhav Suryavanshi as he has already played 5 first-class matches for Bihar. He has been scoring truckloads of runs for his team and recently made his presence felt on England and Australia tours.

Suryavanshi had a stellar IPL season while playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025. He was one of the most dangerous batsmen in IPL this season as he smashed some of the best bowlers. Suryavanshi was acquired by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore in the IPL 2025 auction. At 13, he became the youngest player in IPL. With the kind of cricket that he played, it is expected that RR will retain him for the next season as well.