Vaibhav Sooryavanshi recently made his historic international debut in the second T20I against England at Old Trafford. At just 15 years and 99 days old, the southpaw broke Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing record as the youngest-ever Indian to debut in men’s international cricket.
Sooryavanshi was rewarded with a place in the national side after a record-breaking IPL 2026 campaign, where he won the Orange Cap, Most Valuable Player, and Emerging Player awards while representing Rajasthan Royals.
However, the young prodigy failed to set the international stage on fire, returning with scores of 14, 13, and 15 in three innings before he was pulled from the starting lineup for the fifth T20I.
Days after the end of the series, which India lost 0-4 to England, a report published in Dainik Jagran claims that Sooryavanshi was not originally in line to make his debut in Manchester. In fact, he was not expected to feature until the final T20I of the UK tour.
According to the report, both chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir had initially agreed to let Sanju Samson open the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma for a six-match stretch regardless of the results, but the team management altered this strategy due to "indirect pressure".
“Fifteen-year-old Sooryavanshi, who won the Orange Cap for scoring over 700 runs in the IPL, was selected by the selectors for the tours of Ireland and England, but Sanju was set to play in the first six matches. If Sanju didn't perform well in those six matches, Vaibhav would be given a chance in the final match, and chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Gambhir were on the same page,” the report stated.
“Despite Sanju's poor performance in the two matches against Ireland and the first T20I against England, it was clear that he would play in the second T20I as well. However, due to indirect pressure, Vaibhav was given the opportunity. Vaibhav failed to perform well in the three matches. A source close to the selectors said that since Vaibhav was given the opportunity, he should have been included in the final match as well. Playing Sanju again in the next match was a poor decision,” it added.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will return to action in the upcoming three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, starting July 23 in Harare.
