15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been selected in the Indian team after his record performance in the IPL. He can become India’s youngest international player by debuting in T20I against Ireland.
15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been included in the Indian squad for the T20I series against Ireland and England as well as the Asian Games 2026. Since then, expectations of his international debut have increased. He is the youngest player ever to get a place in the national team. In the last season of IPL, Vaibhav had a record breaking performance by scoring 776 runs and was the youngest to win the Orange Cap. After this, he got direct entry into the senior team under the leadership of new captain Shreyas Iyer. His selection in the senior team created a lot of stir in the Indian cricket world, because now he is very close to debuting for India.
Apart from IPL, this batsman from Bihar had also performed brilliantly in domestic cricket. He broke many records in Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His performance was also taken into consideration before being selected in the team. This shows that the national selection policy is now focusing on giving opportunities to young and fearless talent.
Who was the last teenager to debut for India?
Vaibhav Suryavanshi has joined the list of select cricketers who got a place in the Indian senior team at the age of less than 20. Even before Vaibhav, many teenagers have played for Team India, including 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who later became the God of Cricket.
Now that Vaibhav is on the threshold of his debut, the question arises that who was the last teenage sensation to wear the Indian jersey just before him? He was none other than Prithvi Shaw. At the age of 18 years and 329 days, Shaw made his international debut on 4 October 2018 in a Test match against West Indies at Rajkot. He announced his arrival by scoring a brilliant century of 134 runs in 154 balls.
It was a record breaking debut for Prithvi Shaw. He became the first Indian teenage player to score a century on international debut and joined the list of some special cricketers in the world. Shaw went on to play 4 Test and 6 ODI matches, in which he scored 339 and 189 runs respectively.
Apart from Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Prithvi Shaw, many young players like Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Parthiv Patel have gone from being teenage sensations to being important members of the Indian cricket team in the last few decades.
Will Vaibhav Suryavanshi get a chance to make his international debut?
The excitement of fans is increasing regarding the debut of Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the two-match T20I series against Ireland. Everyone is eagerly waiting to see this young player in the Indian jersey. However, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has emphasized on fairness in team selection.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of the first T20I against Ireland in Belfast, Kotak said that the final decision on Suryavanshi’s debut will be taken by captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir. He stressed that team selection should be based on merit and fairness towards players who have been performing consistently.
Kotak said, “This evening the captain and the head coach will decide about the team. And if he plays then great, even if he doesn’t play it is great for me because he is a part of the Indian team. And I am sure he will get his due and opportunities.”
He further added, “So I don’t think that just to give him a chance, we should drop a player who is already scoring runs. That wouldn’t be right either. I think there is a very thin line between giving someone a chance and being unfair to another player.”
Scroll to load tweet…
If Vaibhav Suryavanshi makes his debut in the first T20I against Ireland, he will become the youngest player to represent Team India in international cricket, breaking female cricketer Shefali Verma’s record of 15 years and 239 days.