IIM Indore to study Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after record-breaking IPL 2026
The business school will conduct a three-month study on the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals batter to understand how early success impacts young talent
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore is launching a research study centered entirely on 15-year-old cricket prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
This comes following the teenager’s historic breakout performance in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 tournament, marking the first time a premier Indian business school is studying the management of underage elite sporting talent.
The young left-handed batsman took the cricket world by storm, playing for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). He accumulated 776 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 237.30. Sooryavanshi dominated the tournament’s individual honors by sweeping five major titles, including the Orange Cap and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. He also shattered West Indies legend Chris Gayle’s fourteen-year-old record for the most sixes in a single season by clearing the ropes a record-breaking 72 times.
Decoding the prodigy blueprint
The three-month study, set to begin within the next two weeks, aims to construct a sustainable developmental framework for nurturing talent under intense public scrutiny. Academic researchers intend to dissect the specific behavioral patterns, training disciplines, and high-performance environments that allow a child to excel against world-class opposition. By looking past athletic statistics, the school intends to understand how elite institutional support structures can consistently replicate this level of early success.
Also read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s full list of IPL 2026 awards won and money earned
IIM Indore Director Himanshu Rai explained the strategic objectives of the project to PTI. “We want to understand what factors drive the extraordinary performance of child prodigies,” Rai highlighted. “Personality, behaviour, and practice patterns, along with the support of parents, teachers, coaches, and seniors, are crucial for such performance.”
Navigating the dark side of fame
Beyond analysing on-field accomplishments, the study will explicitly investigate the psychological hazards confronting underage stars. A dedicated panel of academic experts will map out methods for helping young prodigies navigate sudden wealth, corporate sponsorship contracts, and the relentless pressure of modern social media. The research team chose a cricket athlete specifically because the sport faces far greater public expectation and media scrutiny within the Indian cultural landscape than any other field.
Also read: How IPL's 15-year-old wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi unwinds with cartoons
The research framework is designed to address the common trajectory where exceptional young talents achieve great heights early on but later struggle under escalating pressure. “In our study, we also want to look at how to deal with such expectations or obstacles,” Rai maintained.
To ensure a thorough diagnostic approach, the institute is bringing together specialised academic minds from psychology, sociology, human resource management, communication, and behavioral sciences.
The final clinical conclusions will not be restricted solely to the athletic arena. The business school intends for the resulting data to serve as a baseline guide for protecting and developing early-age exceptionalism in fields like mathematics, science, and the performing arts.
The completed comprehensive research paper will be sent to leading global journals and shared directly with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to help shape institutional mental health and training policies for emerging national talent.