Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Could Enter India Mix on Ireland Tour
Ravi Shastri has pushed vaibhav sooryavanshi into India’s senior selection picture, saying June’s Ireland tour could be the opening that makes the teenage opener the youngest-ever India debutant. The former India coach said he would be looking into the 16-year-old straight away after a season that has already forced selectors to pay attention.
Shastri’s Ireland opening
“The door would be three-fourths open,” Shastri said to host Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review. He added, “So I think he's very, very much in the reckoning. And when you have tours of Ireland and all this happening now, I would be looking into him straight away.”
The pitch was clear. Shastri said the T20 format gives selectors the quickest route to bring a young batter into the setup, and he stressed that Sooryavanshi’s age should not get in the way of the call if the form is strong enough. “A lot of people will ask, is he 15, is he 16, is he 14? I don't care. I just see the way he is batting at the moment and the way he's taking on all comers twice his age or maybe two and a half times his age. It doesn't matter to him,” he said.
Sooryavanshi’s IPL surge
Sooryavanshi has given that case weight with Rajasthan Royals. He scored a 36-ball century against Sunrisers Hyderabad last month and has added two half-centuries this IPL season. Across 11 innings, he has made 440 runs at a strike rate of 236.56, with 40 maximums — more than any other batter so far this season.
That form sits alongside a strong run in India colors. At the start of the year, he played a starring role in India’s triumph at the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and on Thursday, 14 May, he received a maiden India A call-up. He is also set to travel to Sri Lanka in June for a tri-series involving Afghanistan, which keeps him in the international pipeline even before any senior debut.
India’s next selection call
The June window is now the one to watch. If selectors take Shastri’s advice and include him for the Ireland tour, Sooryavanshi would become the youngest-ever India debutant, a line that would move him from prospect to senior international in one step. For now, the pressure sits on the next squad decision, with his IPL numbers and India A elevation already making him impossible to ignore.
