NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s wait for an India debut continued during the two-match T20I series against Ireland, where India suffered a surprise 2-0 whitewash under new captain Shreyas Iyer.The teenage batting sensation was widely expected to get his first international cap, with fans and pundits repeatedly calling for his inclusion. However, India stuck with their established opening combination, leaving Sooryavanshi on the bench throughout the series. Now, with a five-match T20I series against England starting in Durham on Wednesday, the focus is once again on whether the youngster will finally get his chance.
The first place fights increase the selection debate
India’s batting struggled against the challenging Irish shots, and the top order failed to deliver consistently throughout the series. Those performances intensified calls for Sooryavanshi’s inclusion against England.The 15-year-old earned his first India call-up after a sensational IPL 2026 campaign, where he scored 776 runs at an incredible rate of 237.30 and was named Player of the Tournament.Despite those numbers, I remained an unused member of the squad in Ireland.
“He’s absolutely ready”: Ryan has Doeschate
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate believes Sooryavanshi is ready for international cricket, but insisted the youngster will have to wait for his opportunity.“He’s absolutely ready to play international cricket, there’s no doubt about that. But still, I think it’s not a question of saying you can leave Sanju Samson out. A guy who went a long way to win India the World Cup three months ago. A guy who had a pretty good IPL.”I stressed the importance of supporting the players instead of making quick changes.“It’s important in terms of giving confidence to the players, and the message we send to the players. We want to give the guys a long run in the team. So, as Vaibhav is ready and excited as we are and you’re going to see him play, he’s going to go through the same process as everyone else and, you know, bide his time and wait.Ten Doeschate admitted that India could have adapted better to the conditions in Ireland, but refused to blame the schedule or limited practice time.“I think training more gives you a better chance to adapt. I think you also need to tread carefully in terms of freshness and give the guys time to rest and make sure they are mentally fresh even for the series. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have done things differently.”He added that the team had limited training opportunities, but said that was no excuse.“We arrived here on Thursday and, again, we know how hard the Irish are trying to put good facilities. The training facilities were not ideal, so we had a little success, but of course you would have preferred three or four shots as for a normal tour.”“Again, no excuses. If we are really critical of ourselves, it is the desire to want to adapt and play differently when you are presented with a different challenge. We put our hands up, and we say it’s something we need to improve much more quickly.”
Will the England series give it its chance?
India now enter a five-match T20I series against England, starting in Durham on July 1. If the opening pair of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma fail to make an impact, the team management might finally hand Sooryavanshi his long-awaited India debut.