Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, has been named Bihar's captain for the upcoming 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. This will be his first assignment as captain in official cricket, though he has previous experience of being vice-captain of the state in the Ranji Trophy and East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
When East Zone captain Ishan Kishan was off the field briefly in the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai in September, Sooryavanshi stood in as captain.
The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) selection committee picked the squad following a meeting held on November 6. Trials were conducted from November 4 to 6, with the selectors taking into account the players' performances in the trials as well as their past performances before finalising the squad for the opening two matches.
Sooryavanshi had only limited game-time in New Zealand last month, scoring 4 and 45 in two innings during the five-match T20I series. His explosive partnership with Abhishek Sharma in the third T20I in Wellington helped India plunder 118 in the first six overs, the highest powerplay score in men's T20Is.
Sooryavanshi has played 44 T20s so far, of which seven have come for Bihar. In the previous edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Sooryavanshi hit an unbeaten 108 off 61 balls against Maharashtra at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The availability of fast bowler Sakib Hussain, who turned heads during IPL 2025, for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is subject to fitness. The 21-year-old hasn't played any competitive cricket since his stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in April-May earlier this year.
Bihar have had a tough start to the domestic season, losing all four of their matches in the first phase of the Ranji Trophy. The team will now look to turn things around under Sooryavanshi. Bihar will start their SMAT campaign against Saurashtra in Indore on November 14.
Bihar squad
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (capt), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Altamish Ashraf, Tarun Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (wk), Prithvi Raj, Suraj Kashyap (vice-capt), Mayank Kumar, Raghavendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Prasad Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amol Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan, Himanshu Singh