Did Sanjiv Goenka silence age fraud critics with an image of a ‘6-yr-old’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi cheering for Rising Pune?

Cricket's new rising star Vaibhav Suryavanshi is the talk of the town in the Indian Premier League after he hit a sensational 35-ball century for the Rajasthan Royals against the Gujarat Titans on Monday. He also became the youngest centurion in the history of the IPL with that century.

It's been an eventful couple of weeks for the 14-year-old. Prior to his historic ton, the teenager was handed his maiden cap on April 19, in a home game against the Lucknow Super Giants, as he became the youngest debutant in the history of the cash-rich league.

Age fraud?

He made an eventful start to his IPL career as he announced himself with a first-ball six off veteran Shardul Thakur. He followed it up with another six the very next over, against Avesh Khan, as the cricketing world was enamoured by the bravery of the young boy.

However, along with the fame came the scrutiny.

Such was the maturity of the teenager's innings that a section of the cricketing world started casting doubts over his age claims, as many believed he wasn't really 14 years old.

To make matters worse, a video of an interview with BNN News, uploaded in April 2023, was doing the rounds. It showed the youngster stating he would turn 14 that September.

This would be contrary to the official records, which list his date of birth as March 27, 2011. 

See here:

Sanjiv Goenka to the rescue?

However, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka seems to have inadvertently confirmed his official age with a throwback picture. 

Goenka uploaded a picture on X of a young Suryavanshi, supposedly 6 years old, with his father at an IPL game in 2017. 

This would mean the RR batter is indeed 14 years old in 2025. 

Goenka captioned the tweet, “Last night I watched in awe… this morning I came across this photo of 6-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi cheering for my then team, Rising Pune Supergiant, in 2017. Thanks Vaibhav. Lots of good wishes and support (sic).”

Goenka has received negative publicity over the last few weeks, as many fans online accuse the LSG owner of ‘running the team’. 

He has also been in the news for an alleged rift with former LSG skipper KL Rahul, who is now at Delhi Capitals. The duo even had an awkward reunion earlier in IPL 2025. 

However, he has received some support in the form of Amit Mishra, who claims the LSG owner has been misunderstood. 

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