Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s care-free, adolescent excellence graced big-ticket First Class cricket, as the 15-year-old made an entertaining 81-ball 92 on day two of East Zone’s Duleep Trophy semifinal versus Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here on Monday.

In an innings that lasted 118 minutes and was studded with seven sixes and as many fours, Sooryavanshi took on every bowler, and put on 161 glorious runs for the opening wicket with Abhimanyu Easwaran (69, 106b, 8×4).

He was dropped on 40 by Yash Rathod at backward point off Saransh Jain while trying a wild cross-batted heave. But what is boyhood if frightening frankness isn’t accompanied by tiny flaws?

Pacer Yash Thakur was the first to bear Sooryavanshi’s brunt, smashed as he was for a flurry of fours and two sixes, one down the ground and the other hooked.

Saransh, who had just returned from Sri Lanka following his debut Test, induced a false stroke in his very first over only for Yash Rathod to make a mess of it.

Sooryavanshi, however, was unaffected. Reputation has rarely bothered him, and in the IPL, he didn’t spare even the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood.

A falling reverse sweep off Saransh was his response, and though that did not fetch the desired result, he hoisted the offie over long-on to bring up his half-century from 42 balls.

Sooryavanshi then collected maximums off medium-pacer Aryan Panday and left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, before launching another blitzkrieg against Saransh.

The seasoned Madhya Pradesh spinner was sent soaring above long-off, violently reverse-swept for four, and then muscled over cow-corner.

Another attempt at a hoick ended Sooryavanshi’s stay as he was caught at deep mid-wicket off Dubey.

But it was not before he became the youngest half-centurion in Duleep Trophy history, breaking Rajasthan batter Laxman Singh’s record for Central Zone from January 1969 when the latter was 16.

 Duleep Trophy was once an important pit stop in a cricketer’s journey towards the Indian National team. But now, with the mushrooming of glitzy and faster highways to success like the IPL and India-A, the inter-zonal competition has slid down the importance chart.

It is not that the Duleep Trophy is irrelevant; a good performance against the best Ranji Trophy players from the previous season still carries significant value. But it is just one more data point in a cricketer’s graph and not the clincher it once was.

Yet, when the 2026-27 edition starts on Sunday at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here, there will be sufficient interest. As the tournament heralds the beginning of the domestic cricket calendar, players’ first moves will be as important as chess openings.

In the inaugural round, the competitive match – at least on paper – is expected to be the North Zone-West Zone encounter. But Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s presence on the adjacent ground, turning out for East versus the North East, will attract enough eyeballs.

The cherubic 15-year-old has a proven T20 game, but the red ball will present twin tests. There are batting numbers to better, for he averages 17.25 from eight First Class matches. There is the vice-captaincy burden to carry, for he is Ishan Kishan’s deputy.

East also has veteran Mohammed Shami, who last played for India more than 17 months ago. He picked up 37 wickets in Bengal’s dash to the Ranji semis in 2025-26, only for the selectors to look the other way. Can he turn their heads this time around?

North will be led by Jammu & Kashmir’s Kanhaiya Wadhawan, and has six of his Statemates, a hat-tip to J & K’s maiden Ranji triumph earlier this year. Ruturaj Gaikwad will marshal West Zone’s resources, with Mumbai batter Prithvi Shaw in the mix.

Defending champion Central and runner-up South have been given byes to the semifinals. The next four days will decide who they will face.

Along the winding road leading to the KCA cricket stadium in Mangalapuram, his face stares at you from the numerous flex boards.

After all, the 27-year-old Krishna Devan is the toast of his hometown after he became the second most expensive player (₹11.20 lakh) in the recent Kerala Cricket League (KCL) auction.

Though he lives just a stone’s throw away from the KCA stadium, cricket entered Krishna Devan’s life at a relatively late age of 21. He was a self-taught javelin thrower and Kerala University champion before a shoulder injury brought a premature end to his athletics career.

“I tried my luck with cricket after completing my BSC in Mathematics. I used to play tennis ball cricket, so transitioning to the original cricket ball was easy for me,’’ Krishna Devan explained.

The youngster was forced to take on menial jobs to pursue his passion because of his family’s financial situation. However, after breaking two bats and losing a significant amount of money in stock trading, Krishna Devan found himself at a crossroads.

In a desperate midnight impulse, he packed his bags, rode his bike to Bengaluru and spent the next eight months working as a food delivery executive. “I needed money and cricket was the last thing on my mind when I arrived in Bengaluru,’’ he said.

Yet, he couldn’t stay away from the sport for long. He made friends with local club cricketers and played in tournaments during his spare time. Sagar, a club patron who got to know of Krishna Devan’s struggles, gifted him a full kit and five bats, urging him to return home and play.

Krishna Devan rejoined Kids Cricket Club and rapidly earned a reputation as a terrifying power-hitter. Despite a painful snub in the inaugural KCL season, he forced his way into the spotlight during the 2025 President’s Cup semifinal, smashing four sixes in the final over to steal an impossible win for KCA Lions.

Calicut Globstars snapped him up for a modest ₹75,000 in the second season. Krishna Devan didn’t get many opportunities, but his breathtaking unbeaten 11-ball 49 against Aries Kollam Sailors underlined his immense potential.

A thumb injury, which required surgery, sidelined him for five months this year. But he returned in style, playing match-winning knocks for Thiruvananthapuram in the NSK Trophy T20 tournament in June. The KCL auction proved to be a life-changing milestone for Krisha Devan.

“It was unbelievable. I was watching the auction on TV and felt happy when my family finally acknowledged me. Now I will have to live up to the expectations and do well in the upcoming KCL”.