India are set to play their first T20I series of the season against Ireland. The two T20Is will be played on June 26 and 28 in Belfast.
The Ajit Agarkar-headed selection committee rewarded Vaibha Sooryavanshi with his maiden India call-up and he is part of the T20I squads for the Ireland and England series and the Asian Games 2026, to be played in Japan. The fans are expecting Sooryavanshi to make his debut in the first T20I against Ireland against Ireland and become the youngest Indian to play international cricket.
A day before the game, Cheteshwar Pujara shared his take on Sooryavanshi and revealed why he might not get a chance in the first T20I. “I don’t see any changes in India’s top three of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Ishan Kishan. Both Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan will be part of the opening XI for sure. When India rotate their players, Vaibhav Suryavanshi will certainly feature in at least one match,” Pujara said on Star Sports.
Sooryavanshi is an opening batter like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan. Abhishek and Samson open the innings with Kishan batting at number 3. There is no vacant spot at the top and the team management will have to drop one of the openers to accommodate Sooryavanshi at the top.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won the Orange Cap in IPL 2026
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi proved his worth in IPL 2026 and won the Cap in IPL 2026 for piling up 776 runs in 16 innings. Batting with a strike rate of 237.30, Sooryavanshi hit 72 sixes and 63 fours in his knock. No other batter scored more than 750 runs.
Sooryavanshi was part of the India A squad that won the tri-series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A. After struggling for big knocks, Sooryavanshi shone in the final and slammed 94 off just 29 balls. He breached the 50-run mark in just 11 balls to become the quickest half-centurion in the history of List A cricket.