Former India cricket team head Ravi Shastri, who knows a thing or two about child prodigies. The all-rounder from Mumbai saw Sachin Tendulkar up close and personal. First in domestic cricket and then for the national team. It’s safe to say he has a pulse on the situation when he calls for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, making his India debut against Ireland next month.
The teenager has been the best opener in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, scoring 440 runs at a strike rate of 236.55, proving that his performance last season was no fluke. Although he’s just 15, one can make the case that he’s the best batter in the tournament. Shastri, who’s working as a broadcaster, has seen Sooryavanshi take down bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood. He doesn’t need any more validation for making a case for his India selection.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ready for international cricket
Reports have suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keen on selecting Sooryavanshi. The Ajit Agarkar-led panel has already picked him for an upcoming India A tri-series, and it won’t be a shock if his name comes up for the India vs Ireland T20I series, which will be played from June 26 to 28 in Stormont, Belfast.
“The door would be three-fourths open. I can tell you that for sure, because if you want to encourage or get someone young and into the setup as quickly as possible, then it’s the T20 format of the game, and he is not short by any margin. This guy can walk into a lot of sides in world cricket at this current moment in time. Just when you look at the exuberance of youth and that youth shows on his face,” Shastri said on The ICC Review.
“A lot of people will ask, ‘Is he 15? Is he 16? Is he 14?’ I don’t care. I just see the way he is batting at the moment and the way he’s taking on all comers twice his age or maybe two and a half times his age. It doesn’t matter to him. So I think he’s very, very much in the reckoning. And when you have tours of Ireland and all this happening now, I would be looking into him straight away,” he added.
Youngest debutants for India cricket team in history
| Player | Debut Age |
|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | 16 years, 205 days |
| Parthiv Patel | 17 years, 153 days |
| Maninder Singh | 17 years, 222 days |
| Harbhajan Singh | 17 years, 288 days |
| Laxmi Ratan Shukla | 17 years, 320 days |
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