Teenage batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi warmed the bench during the recently held T20I series against Ireland, which India lost 0-2 in Belfast.
Even before the series got underway, the Indian team management had indicated that Sooryavanshi would have to wait for his turn, sticking with the established T20 World Cup winning opening pair of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.
However, the decision to leave Sooryavanshi out of the playing XI saw the management drawing flak from the fans, experts and quite a few former cricketers. The backlash intensified after the 15-year-old was overlooked in India’s XI for the first T20I of the ongoing five-match series against England in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday (July 1).
Ahead of the second T20I at Old Trafford, former India cricketer Parthiv Patel stated that Sooryavanshi's debut is only a matter of time, but there should be a clear communication from the team management while handling a youngster of his age.
“I feel that at some point in this series, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will definitely get an opportunity. But at this point in time, communication is something which is very important. You know, when you are part of a coaching staff, you have to make sure that you are giving away the right signals to a batter," Patel said on JioStar.
"Even if you are not going to make him play, you have to tell him that fact. He's a 15-year-old kid. You have to speak to him carefully. You have to teach him a little patience. Because when you are playing for India, when you are picked for India, there are a lot of other players as well who have done really well," he added.
Patel also backed the management’s decision to make Sooryavanshi wait, citing that India's current top-order slots are heavily congested.
“Talking about Sanju Samson. You know, he was the Player of the Series in the World Cup. You have Ishan Kishan, who is batting at No. 3 and is the No. 1 ICC-ranked player. No. 2 is Abhishek Sharma. At this point in time, there is no place, and you have to communicate that really well to Vaibhav Suryavanshi," he remarked.
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 England T20I series at some point, 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.
