Is Vaibhav Suryavanshi the youngest player to appear in the IPL?

Is Vaibhav Suryavanshi the youngest player to appear in the IPL? asked Mehmet Ahmet from India
Vaibhav Suryavanshi made his IPL debut last week for Rajasthan Royals against Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur. And he made an explosive start: he drove his first ball, from the Test seamer Shardul Thakur, for six. In the next over, bowled by another Indian international, Avesh Khan, he lofted another six from the third ball he faced.

If his published birth date (March 27, 2011) is correct, Suryavanshi would easily be the youngest IPL player so far, at 14 years 23 days. However, in an interview in 2023, he said he'd be celebrating his 14th birthday on September 27, 2023, which would make him 18 months older. That would still give him the record: the previous youngest IPL player was Prayas Ray Barman, who was 16 years 157 days old when he appeared for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Sunrisers in Hyderabad in 2019. Ray Barman's debut was rather less stellar: his four overs cost 56, then he was out for 19 - and he hasn't played in the IPL again.

There was a hat-trick of run outs at the end of a recent IPL match. Has this happened before? asked Hussain Mahmoud from India
This unusual hat-trick came during the 19th over of Delhi Capitals' chase against Mumbai Indians in Delhi last week. From 192 for 7, needing 14 to win off nine balls, Capitals lost Ashutosh Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohit Sharma off successive deliveries from Jasprit Bumrah, and the match was over. The first two were hairline decisions confirmed by TV replays, while the last was a direct hit by Mitchell Santner from mid-on.

A hat-trick of run outs was a first for the IPL, but there are four previous known instances in other T20 matches (note that we don't have full details for some games). The first came during Faisalabad Wolves' innings against Multan Tigers in Karachi in 2011; there were four run outs in the last over. This was followed by Assam against Tripura in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Kolkata in 2014, Amo Sharks against Speen Ghar Tigers in Kabul in 2019, and Barisal against Khulna in Sylhet in Bangladesh in 2024 (the last three balls of the match, to give Khulna a one-run win).

Has the captain in a Test ever been the youngest member of the team? asked Derek Johnstone from England
This happened for the first time in Bridgetown in 1962, when 21-year-old Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was the youngest member of India's side against West Indies. He'd taken over after an injury to the tour captain, Nari Contractor. In all, Pataudi captained in five Tests in which he was the youngest player in the team, a record later broken by Sachin Tendulkar, who did it six times.

The others to have been the youngest player in a Test XI they captained are Javed Miandad (twice), Kapil Dev (once), Hansie Cronje (four times) and Graeme Smith (three). Smith's total includes leading the World XI in the one-off Super Series Test against Australia in Sydney in 2005.

If Sam Curran is called up by England for the forthcoming Test against Zimbabwe, he will probably line up against his brother Ben. Have brothers ever been on opposite sides in a Test before? asked Jeremy West from England
Sam Curran last played a Test match nearly four years ago, against India at Headingley in August 2021. It therefore seems unlikely - but obviously not impossible - that Sam will line up opposite his older brother Ben Curran in England's one-off Test against Zimbabwe, which is due to start at Trent Bridge on May 22.

There's only one previous instance of brothers facing each other in a Test match: in Cape Town in 1892, Alec and George Hearne played for England, while their brother Fred represented South Africa. England also included their cousin, Jack Hearne.

Two other pairs of brothers appeared for different countries in Tests, but not against each other: Harry Trott played for Australia, and his brother Albert for both England and Australia, while more recently Darren Pattinson won one cap for England and his brother James played 21 Tests for Australia.

When Jofra Archer went for 76 in the opening game of the IPL, he managed only one dot ball. Has anyone ever bowled four overs without any dots at all? asked Bam Bahadur Chaudhary from Nepal
The misfortunes of Jofra Archer were examined in this column a couple of weeks ago, after he conceded an IPL-record 76 runs in his four overs for Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers in Hyderabad in the opening round of this year's competition.

You're right that he sent down only one dot ball during that expensive spell. That turns out to equal the IPL record: no one has yet managed no dots at all in the full four overs. There had been four previous instances of just one dot out of 24: by slow left-armer Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai in 2013, Brad Hogg for Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils in Delhi in 2016, R Ashwin for Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers in Mohali in 2018, and Pat Cummins for Sunrisers vs RCB in Hyderabad in 2024.