Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had the world’s attention from the time he was picked for India’s T20I squad against Ireland for a 2-match series that began on Friday.
Sooryavanshi had an extended net session on Thursday, where he was seen talking with Gautam Gambhir and other senior India coaching staff. However, Sooryavanshi has not been named in the playing XI for the 1st T20I against Ireland. Had Sooryavanshi been picked, at 15 years, 91 days, he would have been the youngest debutant in Indian cricket (men’s or women’s). (India vs Ireland 1st T20I Live updates)
“Unfortunately no (Sooryavanshi is not playing). He’s a gun player but we have some tremendous players who have done well for us so we are backing them. He will get his chance when the time comes,” Shreyas Iyer, new India capatin, said at the toss. Iyer opted to bowl in the match.
Shafali Verma is the youngest (15 years, 239 days) to play for India. In men’s cricket, Sachin Tendulkar (16 years, 205 days) holds that record.
Sooryavanshi not getting picked has a lot to do with the strong top order that India possess. Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan were part of the T20 World Cup, and dropping any one of them to accommodate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would have been a big decision.
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Thursday had said: “And I am sure that he will get his dues and his opportunities. So I don’t think that just to give him an opportunity, we should drop someone who has already been scoring runs.
“That also won’t be right. I think there is a very thin line between trying to give somebody an opportunity and being unfair to some other player,” said Kotak.
With so much T20 talent ready for the highest level, Kotak felt even selectors have a very tough job at hand. He is relieved that he is not part of the team selection process.
“If you ask me, there is so much talent in India that even the selectors have a headache. Honestly, I don’t have such a big headache because I am not the head coach and the captain. But sometimes it is tough.
“But we also have to remember one thing – those who are already performing should never be ignored, as I believe. Those who are already scoring, winning games for the team. BCCI’s structure is such that players will keep coming,” said the former Saurashtra cricketer when asked how tough it is to bench someone from a World Cup-winning squad.