Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been left out of India’s U-19 squad for the Australia series despite his age and impressive performances. Here’s the BCCI rule behind his omission and what it means.
The India U-19 squad for the upcoming series against Australia U-19 was just announced, and one name is surprisingly missing: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old batting sensation has been the talk of the town in cricket circles. So, the big question is, why isn’t he in the 15-member squad?
This has become a major talking point, especially because the team includes two other famous names: Aryaveer Sehwag, son of former player Virender Sehwag, and Anvay Dravid, son of Indian legend Rahul Dravid.
Despite his strong performances globally and even making his senior team debut in T20s against England, Vaibhav was not picked for the U-19 ODI and red-ball teams against Australia. The reason behind this is a special BCCI rule.
Why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi isn’t in the plan for the next U-19 World Cup
Back in 2016, the BCCI introduced a rule that a player can participate in only one U-19 World Cup. This very rule had previously stopped Washington Sundar from playing in the 2018 U-19 World Cup. Before this change, players like Sarfaraz Khan, Sandeep Sharma, and Vijay Zol had played in the tournament more than once.
Since Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already played in a U-19 World Cup, he is not eligible to play in another one. This is why he is not part of the BCCI’s current plans for the U-19 team, as they are now building a squad for the next World Cup. In a way, the 15-year-old has already outgrown the U-19 level!
The junior men’s selection committee, whose term is about to end, recently announced the squads for this home series. The series will feature three 50-over matches in Rajkot on September 18, 21, and 23. Following this, two red-ball (multi-day) matches will be held—the first in Rajkot from September 27-30 and the second at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium ‘B’ ground from October 5-8.
Uttarakhand’s batter Lakshya Rai Chandani will lead the 50-over team, with Yashwardhan Chauhan from Madhya Pradesh as his deputy. For the red-ball games, their roles will be swapped. Chauhan will be the captain, and Rai Chandani will serve as the vice-captain.
Interestingly, leg-spin all-rounder Aryaveer Sehwag and wicket-keeper batter Anvay Dravid have been selected for the ODI squad but have not found a place in the team for the red-ball matches.
Team Details:
U-19 ODI Squad: Lakshya Rachandani (Captain), Yashbardhan Chauhan (Vice-captain), Rajat Bhagel (Wicket-keeper), Aryaveer Sehwag, V.K. Vineeth, Kushagra Ojha, Arjun Rajput, Manal Chauhan, Anvay Dravid (Wicket-keeper), V. Yashveer, Rohit Yadav, Shavin Vinod, Mohit Ulva, Chigurupati Venkat, Kavya Patel.