Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has dominated high-profile bowlers in the ongoing IPL season.
Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar believes teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is "absolutely ready" to be fast-tracked into the senior Indian squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of England.
The Men in Blue will play five T20Is followed by three ODIs on the tour of England from July 1 to July 19.
The BCCI selection committee is expected to announce the touring party soon. Gavaskar’s strong endorsement for Sooryavanshi highlights the youngster’s impressive domestic form, positioning him as a potential contender for the T20I series.
The 15-year-old has taken the cricketing world by storm with his stunning exploits in the ongoing IPL 2026. He is currently leading the Orange Cap race, with 680 runs to his credit from 15 innings at a blistering strike rate of 242.85, including a 36-ball hundred and four half-centuries.
“He (Vaibhav) is absolutely ready for T20Is," Gavaskar said in a recent interview with Sports Tak. “I hope that when India’s T20I squad for the England tour is selected, he gets a place in the team. He absolutely deserves it because after such a tremendous performance, if you won’t pick him now, then when will you?"
“Don’t look at his age. Don’t look at his age at all, because the way he is hitting boundaries against players who are 15 years older than him — players who have far more international cricket experience — and sending them into the stands, his age simply shouldn’t matter," he added.
Gavaskar, who represented India from 1971 to 1987, urged fans and selectors to ignore Sooryavanshi’s age and instead focus on his batting.
“Don’t look at Sooryavanshi’s age. Just look at the way he is playing, the style in which he is playing. There is absolutely no fear in him. No fear at all. You know how children play — go to any street or any ground — when we were kids, did we ever play defensively? We only became defensive as we grew older. Even in tennis-ball cricket, we always tried to hit big shots. That’s exactly what Sooryavanshi is doing," Gavaskar stated.
“And this is what I pray to God for — that the child within his game and his approach never grows old. May that child always remain alive in him, because through that spirit he will continue giving all of us joy," he remarked.
It is worth mentioning here that the Rajasthan Royals opener narrowly missed Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL century (30 balls), falling for 97 off 29 balls in the Eliminator clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh on Wednesday (May 27).
Sooryavanshi’s whirlwind knock was studded with 5 fours and 12 sixes. As a result, he surpassed Gayle's long-standing tally of 59 sixes in an IPL season. By the end of his explosive innings, the teenager had 65 sixes to his name in this year's IPL.
Thanks to his knock, RR racked up a massive 243/8 on the board and then bowled out SRH for 196 in 19.2 overs to win the contest by 47 runs. The Royals will now face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on Friday (May 29).