7 Youngest Cricket Players In India
Cricket, introduced to India by the British, has found here its deepest roots and greatest acceptance, becoming not just a sport but a passion.
Despite stiff competition and the challenges of the country’s huge population, a few of the youngest cricketers in India have managed to break through and earn a coveted place in the illustrious Indian team.
To shed some light on these stars, let’s look at the 7 youngest players in the Indian cricket team in international competitions, both World Cup or Asian qualifiers and Test series matches.
Top 7 Youngest Cricketers
Right now, the top-7 list of youngest players includes three current athletes representing the Indian team in international tournaments. We are talking about Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, and Washington Sundar. But who is the youngest cricketer in India’s national team?
- Sachin Tendulkar – 16 years and 205 days
Topping the list of the youngest cricketers in history is Sachin Tendulkar. He made his debut at the age of 16 years and 205 days in 1989 in a match against Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar is widely known as the ‘God of Cricket.’ He became the youngest cricket player to represent India and has set many records and achievements in international cricket.
Apart from the Indian team record, it is not difficult to guess who is the youngest cricketer in the world of international sport.
- Parthiv Patel – 17 years and 153 days
The second youngest cricket player in India is Parthiv Patel, who debuted for the national team at 17 years and 153 days against England in August 2002. Despite being short in body and standing 160 cm tall, Patel has been a massive success with his left-handed batting and impeccable wicket-keeping. He has 25 Test games to his credit for the Indian national team.
- Maninder Singh – 17 years and 193 days
Third place goes to Maninder Singh, who made his debut against Pakistan in 1983. He was 17 years and 193 days old then. He was a great bowler for the Indian team and one of the squad leaders in the 1980s. In his career, he played 35 Test matches, in which he picked up 88 wickets.
- Harbhajan Singh – 17 years 288 days
The fourth youngest player is Harbhajan Singh. In 1998, at the age of 17 years and 288 days, he made his debut in a very tough match against a powerful Australian team. In 2011, Harbhajan Singh, along with India, became the world champions and left his fame as one of the legendary players of the national team.
- Washington Sundar – 18 years and 80 days
In fifth place is the all-rounder Washington Sundar. According to many experts, his debut is the best in the Indian team’s history. He is also one of the best young cricketers in India. He played for the national team for the first time in 2021 in the deciding match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. At that time, he was 18 years and 80 days old.
Washington Sundar’s strong qualities are his amazing martial arts and bowling performances. Despite a serious injury that caused him to miss a lot of time, he continues to play. He is currently one of the most important players on the Indian national team.
- Prithvi Shaw – 18 years and 319 days
Another player whose debut will go down in the history of the Indian national team as one of the most successful. He is also on the list of the young cricketers in India. His debut fell in a match against West Indies in 2018. At that time, he was 18 years and 319 days old. He made a century in his debut match and established himself as one of the most promising players. Back home, he became known as the ‘second Sachin Tendulkar’ because of his classy straight and cover shots. Unfortunately, he dropped out of the Indian national team due to poor play and injury concerns.
- Rishabh Pant – 19 years and 128 days
Rishabh Pant, aged 19 years and 128 days, debuted his Test match against England in 2018. He is renowned as an aggressive finisher. Pant showed his ability in the IPL when he easily defeated bowlers like Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He is now a regular player with the middle-order bat. So far, he has played 33 Test matches and scored 2271 runs.
Who is the youngest cricketer in India?
Currently, the youngest player in Indian cricket team 2024 is 21-year-old Tilak Varma, who is a left-handed batsman and a bowler with excellent spinning strokes. He plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and made his debut for the Indian national team on 3 August 2023 against West Indies. He was the best player for the Indian national team, scoring 39 runs in just 22 innings, catching 2 balls in one match.
He has exceptional stats and became the second-youngest Indian to score 50 in the men’s T20I after Rohit Sharma. Varma was also the top scorer for the team in that round. With the Indian team, Tilak Varma won the 2023 Asia Cup.
He is already one of the key players of the Indian national team and should be one of its leaders in the future.