India handed debut caps to Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge, keeping Vaibahv Sooryavanshi on the bench.
The reigning T20 World Cup champions suffered a schock 34-run defeat in the series opener against Ireland. After the loss, many fans and experts expected to see the left-handed teenage prodigy in the playing XI for the second and final T20I.
Instead, the Indian team management handed T20I debut caps to pacer Prince Yadav and batting all-rounder Suryansh Shedge in a must-win fixture, keeping Sooryavanshi on the bench.
Speaking on the Sony Sports Network, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar criticized the decision, saying the management did not make a “good cricketing call” by ignoring the youngster for the series-decider.
“It's not a good cricketing decision. Actually, I am not jumping on the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi bandwagon. India wanted a good middle-order batter after what happened in the first T20I. The openers firing is not enough. You also want the batters following firing. That was an area where India needed a pure batter in," Manjrekar said.
“The way to get Vaibhav in was to get him to open and have Sanju in the middle-order. I am just not happy. I would have wanted Vaibhav to open,” he added.
At 15 years and over 90 days old, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is on the verge of shattering Sachin Tendulkar’s 36-year-old record to become the youngest debutant in men’s cricket for India. Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days when he made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989.
Sooryavanshi earned his maiden India call-up on the back of a record-breaking IPL 2026 campaign where he finished as the Most Valuable Player and Orange Cap winner for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), hammering 776 runs at a staggering strike rate of 237.30. Along the way, he dominated high-profile bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood.
If the wonder kid from Bihar features in the upcoming five-T20I series against England, he would become the youngest debutant ever for India across both men's and women's cricket. The record is currently held by Shafali Verma, whose maiden appearance for India came at the age of 15 years and 239 days.