Tendulkar made his India debut at 16, while Sooryavanshi is in line to do the same at 15 years old.
Sooryavanshi broke that record after being named in the Indian squad for the T20I series in Ireland and England, just at the age of 15 years. Sooryavanshi is currently part of the India A squad in Sri Lanka for the one-day tri-series.
Whenever that much-anticipated debut arrives — whether in Ireland or England — Sooryavanshi will become the youngest player to represent India in international cricket.
The media frenzy surrounding Sooryavanshi has already started, even though the series is about a month away. Newspapers and cricket talk programs have labeled him a "must-watch" attraction following an incredible IPL 2026 season that essentially pushed the selectors' hand.
Former England captain Jos Buttler has frequently discussed the young player on his YouTube show, “For The Love of Cricket," alongside Stuart Broad. Buttler saw the phenomenon personally when sharing the Gujarat Titans dressing room with Sooryavanshi.
"15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has got a deserved call-up into an incredibly strong India side. So strong that they have dropped their World Cup-winning captain. He was a serious, serious player. And while his form has not been at the same level as it was before, the next World Cup is in 2028, so they wanted that change. They picked Shreyas Iyer, who won it with KKR, and then had a good effect on the Punjab Kings. More than anything, his numbers with the bat have been brilliant," Buttler said on the YouTube show.
Butler revealed an interesting conversation with GT assistant coach Ashish Kapoor during his time in IPL 2026. During the conversation, the two talked about Sooryavanshi's extraordinary hype and how it was similar to Sachin Tendulkar's early days.
"Ashish Kapoor, one of our assistant coaches at Gujarat, and I were talking while all the furor around Vaibhav was reaching fever pitch in India. I asked him what it was like compared to Sachin because he is from that generation and grew up watching him.
He said the real difference is that everyone has seen Vaibhav. He's not played international cricket, yet he is already so famous because of social media. Everyone has watched him bat and seen what he has done in the biggest T20 tournament in the world,” Buttler stated.
"When Sachin was coming through, people were reading about him in newspapers. It was all whispers and stories about this extraordinary talent that you simply had to watch. Unless you were on the ground or happened to catch him live on television, you didn't really see him. There were no highlight packages, no social media, and none of the exposure players get today.
Vaibhav is incredibly well-known already. He was the MVP of the tournament, scoring more than 700 runs at a strike rate above 200. Any player putting up those numbers gets picked. He absolutely deserves his place,” Buttler added.
Sooryavanshi will join the Indian squad, next traveling to Ireland for the T20I series beginning on June 26.