India, June 9 -- H ours after 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was named in India's squad for the upcoming T20I tour of Ireland and England over the weekend, the words of his father, Sanjeev Sooryavanshi, carried equal parts pride and responsibility. "Bahut mehnat kari hai Vaibhav ne," says Sanjeev, who sold ancestral land, watched a business collapse and spent years making five-hour round trips from Motipur to Patna so his son could train. The proud father adds, "Every parent wants to see their child reach the top. But for me, this is not about records or him being the youngest. It is about representing India. Till now he was my little boy, but now he is India's son. He has a responsibility to bring pride to this country. Khoob achha khele, khoob run banaye, khoob match khele aur bas khelta rahe." The youngest cricketer ever selected for India, surpassing a long-standing age record associated with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Vaibhav's rise has been one of the most remarkable stories in Indian cricket. Fresh from a breakthrough IPL 2026 campaign, in which he scored 776 runs in 16 matches, smashed a record 72 sixes and finished with the Orange Cap, the teenager has quickly emerged as one of the country's most exciting young talents. "Jab Vaibhav paanch saal ka tha, usne pehli baar bat uthaya, and something inside me just knew," he recalls. "That stillness in his eyes, the way he gripped the bat, it wasn't a child playing. It was a boy who had already decided something. But I never let that go to his head. Humse daant bhi khaaya hai bahut. Talent without character is just noise. When you have ability at such a young age, the world starts treating you differently and that's when most kids lose their way. Vaibhav never did. Not once." The father speaks less about records and more about discipline. "He would come home from a century and ask what he did wrong. That hunger, that refusal to be satisfied, you cannot teach that. It's in his bones. When he walked out and hit that first ball of IPL 2026 for a six, I didn't cheer. I just sat back and smiled. Because I had seen that look on his face since he was four years old. The mind of this kid is unbreakable. And that, more than any record, is what makes me proud to be his father." The whirlwind surrounding Vaibhav's success has left little room for quiet family moments. After emerging as one of the breakout stars of IPL 2026, his return home turned into a celebration for an entire state. "Sahi se baith kar baat nahin kar paaye hain abhi. Khaana bhi nahin khaaya baith kar," the 44-year-old says with a laugh, adding, "The day he came back, everyone wanted to see him and take a photo with him. And then he left for Sri Lanka. But yeh jo humare state Bihar ka pyaar hai, aur desh ka pyaar hai... yehi ise yahan tak laaya hai."...