After being outplayed by Ireland in the first T20I, many fans and experts expected to see teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in India’s playing XI for the second game in Belfast on Sunday (June 28).
The Indian team management instead handed debut caps to pacer Prince Yadav and batting all-rounder Suryansh Shedge in a must-win fixture, keeping Sooryavanshi on the bench.
At 15 years and over 90 days old, 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 was rewarded with a place in the national side after a remarkable IPL 2026 campaign, where he finished as the Most Valuable Player and Orange Cap winner for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), hammering 776 runs in 16 innings at a staggering strike rate of 237.30.
Speaking to Aaj Tak, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar reiterated that the Ireland series was a perfect opportunity for the Indian team management to blood in Sooryavanshi. He strongly advocated for the youngster to debut against England in the first T20I at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday (July 1).
“For a month, I had been saying that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could have played both games because of his form. In one match, you could have had Abhishek Sharma opening the batting and Sanju Samson in the other with Sooryavanshi. But it has not happened. I am not saying Vaibhav would have won you the match. Even he might have gotten out after scoring 10-15 runs. But, if you had to try a young player, these two matches were the ideal opportunity,” Gavaskar said.
“No [you can't wait any longer]. You should play him from the first game in England. It's as straightforward as that. Keep the out-of-form batters on the bench and play Sooryavanshi. That's it. Either you play him as the opener or at No. 3, but he has to play the first match of the England series, which is on July 1,” he added.
Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson opened the batting for India in the Ireland series. While Sharma holds the No. 1 position in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings for batters, Samson earned the Player-of-the-Tournament award in India’s T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year.
Gavaskar wants Sooryavanshi in the playing XI at No. 3 to shock and "rattle" the English bowlers with an aggressive young talent.
“It can happen. The opening partnership of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have played really well. So, dropping them after two matches is not right. But you can drop a batter from the middle-order. So, you can play Sooryavanshi at No. 3. But, on July 1, you have to play him. If you want to shock England, then you have to play him. He might fail, but if he gets going, England will be rattled,” the former India skipper remarked.
