Teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s astonishing batting skills have captured the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Sunday, Modi hailed the ‘son of Bihar’ for working immensely hard on his craft, which helped him play fearless cricket on the big stage. Modi mentioned Vaibhav’s batting exploits in his video address during the inauguration of the Khelo India Youth Games in Bihar.The 14-year-old Suryavanshi, who hails from Bihar’s Samastipur, became a toast of the cricketing world when he hit a stunning 35-ball hundred for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans recently in the IPL. “I have seen in the IPL, the son of Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s spectacular performance. At such a young age, Vaibhav has set such a great record. There is a lot of hard work behind Vaibhav’s performance,” Modi said in his address.
The #KheloIndiaYouthGames2025 kicked off in Bihar with great energy and enthusiasm????Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to the athletes through a heartfelt virtual message, inspiring young talent across the nation. The grand opening ceremony was… pic.twitter.com/MRCBgLLqOG— Khelo India (@kheloindia) May 4, 2025
Modi said single-minded training and several matches he played to be ready for the big challenges contributed to Suryavanshi’s success and encouraged the youth to put in the hard yards and compete intensely. “To bring his talent to the forefront, he has played many matches at different levels. The more you play, the more you will shine. Competing in matches and competitions as much as possible is very important. The NDA government has always given it the highest priority in its policies.”The government’s focus is on allowing our athletes to play new sports. That is why the Khelo India Youth Games included Gatka, Kho-kho, Malkhambh and Yogasana. In recent days, our athletes have performed very well in many new sports like Wushu, Lawn Balls, Roller Skating.” Modi said sports hold a significant place in his government’s policy-making.”There is a new national education policy, in which we have made sports a part of mainstream education. This policy aims to create excellent sports professionals along with good players in the country.”My young friends, we know that sportsmanship plays a very important role in every aspect of life. We learn team spirit in the field of sports. We learn to move forward together,” he said.First Published: May 5, 2025 12:22 AM IST
