Rajasthan Royals have found themselves at the centre of a fresh controversy after Social Activist CM Shivakumar Nayak accused the IPL franchise of exploiting 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and threatened legal action over his participation in the tournament. Speaking during a televised debate on a Kannada news channel, Nayak described the teenager’s involvement in the IPL as a violation of child rights and questioned whether a minor should be competing in one of the world’s biggest cricket leagues.
The allegations emerge amid Sooryavanshi’s rapid rise as one of the breakout names of IPL 2026 following a series of explosive performances for Rajasthan Royals. The left-handed batter has attracted widespread attention after becoming one of the youngest players to make a major impact in franchise cricket at the highest level.
Activist threatens legal action
During the televised debate, CM Shivakumar Nayak said: “This 15-year-old boy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from Rajasthan Royals is being exploited. He is just a child, only 15 years old, and they have brought him into the IPL to play professional cricket. This is nothing but child labour. How can they make a minor boy play in such a big league like this? He should be focusing on his studies, going to school and completing his education instead of playing cricket at this tender age.”
Nayak later added during the same discussion: “I strongly condemn this and I will be filing a police complaint or legal case against the Rajasthan Royals management for violating child rights and child labour laws. Don’t let this boy play IPL cricket, it’s child labour, he should study.”
What Indian law says about underage participation
Under India’s Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, children below the age of 14 are barred from employment in most sectors. Adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18, however, are permitted to work in regulated and non-hazardous environments under specific conditions.
Professional sport has generally not been classified as hazardous labour, particularly when athletes operate within regulated systems overseen by governing bodies and contractual frameworks. Young cricketers competing in professional structures also typically do so with parental approval and institutional supervision.
The issue therefore appears to fall into a more complex legal and ethical debate rather than a clearly defined breach under existing sporting regulations.
ICC and BCCI eligibility rules
Sooryavanshi recently turned 15, placing him within the ICC’s minimum age eligibility framework for international cricket. ICC player eligibility criteria state that a player “will only be eligible to represent a National Cricket Federation in an International Match (including ICC Events and U19 Events) if he or she is aged 15 or over on the relevant squad submission date (in the case of ICC Events including U19 Events) or on the date of the first match of the series/tournament to be played (in the case of all other International Matches).”
The ICC framework also includes provisions for exceptional cases involving players younger than 15. ICC player eligibility criteria stated in official rules: “ICC acknowledges that in certain exceptional circumstances there may be justifications for allowing someone younger than 15 to play in an International Match. Where a National Cricket Federation considers that exceptional circumstances exist to justify allowing a player younger than 15 to play in an International Match, it may be open for the Exceptional Circumstances Committee to make such a determination.”
Those regulations previously enabled Sooryavanshi to feature in youth-level international cricket before turning 15.
BCCI regulations also did not prevent his IPL participation. Under current rules, under-19 and under-16 players become eligible for the IPL after appearing in at least one first-class match. Sooryavanshi had already fulfilled that requirement after making his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar at the age of 12.
Sooryavanshi’s rapid rise in IPL 2026
The allegations against Rajasthan Royals over 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s participation in the IPL have emerged during a season in which the young batter has become one of the tournament’s most talked-about players, scoring 404 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 237.64 with one century and two half-centuries.
Sooryavanshi recently produced a 36-ball century against Sunrisers Hyderabad and crossed 1,000 T20 runs after facing fewer than 500 deliveries in the format. The innings also placed him among the fastest centurions in IPL history.
His performances this season have included attacking displays against several established international bowlers, further accelerating discussions around his long-term future in Indian cricket.
The teenager has also reportedly been included among a wider pool of players under consideration for India’s upcoming T20 plans ahead of the Ireland tour later this year.
