Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajiv Shukla on Sunday congratulated Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on becoming India’s youngest international cricketer.
Shukla said the BCCI gives opportunities based on merit, rejecting social media claims that Sooryavanshi was being unfairly overlooked. He also stressed that he had expected Sooryavanshi to get his chance at the right time and expressed confidence that the youngster would perform well and establish himself in the future.
Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to represent India at 15 years and 99 days across formats, as well as the youngest debutant from a Test-playing nation in T20I history after he was included in India’s playing XI for the second T20I against England in Manchester on Saturday.
“Huge congratulations to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on his debut and for receiving this opportunity. The BCCI does not treat anyone unfairly; those who deserve it get their chance. There was a lot of uproar on social media claiming that opportunities weren’t being given; people were criticising both the coach and the captain. But that wasn’t the case. I had said just the other day that when the right moment arrived, he would certainly get his chance, and yesterday, he did. I believe he will perform well in the future and truly come into his own. It is an excellent decision by the team management, and we should appreciate it,” Shukla told ANI.
Sooryavanshi made an entertaining start to his international career, smashing 14 off 10 balls with two sixes before being stumped off Will Jacks.
Sooryavanshi also broke the long-standing records held by Sachin Tendulkar (Test debut at 16 years and 205 days; ODI debut at 16 years and 238 days) and Piyush Chawla (Test debut at 17 years and 75 days).
Coming to the second T20I, India opted to bat first, and Abhishek Sharma (43 off 24 balls, with eight fours and a six) and Shreyas Iyer (37 off 22 balls, with three fours and a six) played useful knocks. Ishan Kishan (49 off 40 balls, with six fours) added 65 runs for the third wicket with Iyer.
Following that, India collapsed from 130/2 to 165/6. Tilak Varma (24\* off 11 balls, with a four and two sixes) played a quickfire cameo to take India to 190/7 in 20 overs.
Sam Curran (3/33) was England’s best bowler.
In the chase, England lost both their openers, Phil Salt and Jos Buttler, for ducks, marking the first time this had happened in a T20I. However, England made a solid recovery courtesy of a quickfire knock from skipper Harry Brook (39 off 15 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), who put on a fifty-run partnership with Jacob Bethell.
Bethell then added 67 runs for the fourth wicket with Tom Banton (39 off 32 balls, with six fours) before the wickets of Banton and Will Jacks reduced England to 133/5 in 15.2 overs.
Bethell (76\* off 46 balls, with five fours and five sixes) changed the course of the game by upping the scoring rate in the slog overs, helping England complete the chase in 19 overs with Jofra Archer (10\*) at the other end.
England take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, with three matches left for India to make an impact. The first T20I ended in a washout