Bihar selectors named 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi captain of the side for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026 during a meeting in Patna on November 6.
With the appointment, Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to captain a team in T20 cricket. Suraj Kashyap will serve as his deputy, while chief selector Harvinder Singh announced the decision.
Bihar are placed in Elite Group B and will begin their campaign against Saurashtra in Indore on November 14. However, Sooryavanshi will be available only for the opening fixture before joining the Tilak Varma-led India Rising Stars squad for the Emerging Asia Cup in Doha, Qatar, scheduled to take place from November 19 to 29. The SMAT Super League stage will run from November 30 to December 6.
Harvinder Singh confirmed that Sooryavanshi had agreed to lead Bihar in their first match but would not be available for the remainder of the tournament.
"He agreed to lead the side in the first match, and we have decided to hand him the captaincy. After the first match, however, he will not be available," Harvinder Singh was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Why is Sooryavanshi available for only one Bihar match?
Sooryavanshi has been selected as part of the India Rising Stars squad for the Emerging Asia Cup, a tournament scheduled in Qatar between November 19 and 29. His international commitment means he must depart the SMAT camp shortly after Bihar's opening group fixture, leaving Suraj Kashyap to take over the leadership duties for the remainder of Bihar's Elite Group B matches.
The overlap between the SMAT group stage and the Emerging Asia Cup window is the direct reason Bihar's selectors structured the captaincy arrangement this way. Sooryavanshi's fearless batting style in the T20 format was clearly a factor in the selectors' decision to give him the honour even for a single game, rather than bypass him entirely.
What does Sooryavanshi's captaincy mean for Bihar's SMAT campaign?
Bihar's 17-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026 includes experienced domestic names alongside younger talent. With Sooryavanshi departing after the Saurashtra fixture in Indore on November 14, vice-captain Suraj Kashyap will guide the side through the rest of the group stage and, if Bihar qualify, into the Super League that begins November 30.
Bihar full squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (c), Suraj Kashyap (vc), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Altamash Ashraf, Param Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (wk), Ritwik Raj, Mayank Kumar, Raghvendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Pratap Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amod Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan, Himanshu Singh
