Indian Prime Minister cited Bihar teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s example to motivate young athletes at the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) during the inauguration ceremony on Sunday.
In his virtual inauguration speech, Modi mentioned about the Rajasthan Royals batter who recently grabbed the limelight for smashing a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans at 14 years and 32 days.
It made him the youngest T20 centurion in the world while surpassing Yusuf Pathan as the fastest Indian to score a century.
“We all have seen the outstanding performance of the son of Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, in IPL. Vaiabhav has created such a big record at this young age. Behind his game, there is his labour for sure, but playing matches at different levels has also helped him,” he said during his inaugural address.
“It means ‘jo jitna khelega, wo utna khilega (The more one plays, the more he will bloom),” he added.
The Bihar teenager was bought from the IPL auction at INR 1.1 crore. He has replaced injured Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson in the playing XI.
The KIYG will run from May 4 to 15 with Patna, Rajgir, Gaya, Bhagalpur, and Begusarai hosting all but three events — shooting, gymnastics and track cycling — will be held in New Delhi.
In its seventh edition, the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 comprises 27 competitive sports and one demo sport. E-Sports has been introduced for the first ever time at KIYG.
A total of 5000 athletes are set to participate in the event.