LONDON: In a historic moment for Indian cricket, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his international debut in the second T20I against England.
With his debut, the teenage batter has become the youngest player to represent India in international cricket, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record.
India won the toss and elected to bat first. Malayali wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson was left out of the playing XI for the match, with Sooryavanshi making his debut at the top of the order. Ahead of the game, young batter Tilak Varma presented the teenager with his India cap.
Sooryavanshi made an impressive start to his international career by smashing England pacer Jofra Archer for a six off just the fourth ball he faced. At the end of three overs, India were 21/0, with Abhishek Sharma unbeaten on 8 off 12 balls and Sooryavanshi batting on 8 off 6 deliveries.
England Playing XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Harry Brook (captain), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue.
India Playing XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.