Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar expects Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to make his debut against England in the upcoming five-match series. The youngster was expected to make his maiden appearance for the Men in Blue against Ireland, but it wasn’t to be, as the management, led by skipper Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir, decided to stick with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. Gavaskar said that before the Ireland series, he thought Sooryavanshi would make his debut against Ireland and break Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
However, he added that the young lad from Samastipur, Bihar, can expect to play at least one match in the UK next month. Earlier, Sooryavanshi earned a national team call-up on the back of a 700+ run season for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2026 season.
The world expected Sooryavanshi to get his maiden cap in Belfast, but Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge got the chance to make their debuts before him, and the 15-year-old needs to wait further.
‘“Not expected when India went to Ireland. Because at that stage, I honestly thought that with Ireland not being seen as a real threat, they would give young Suryavanshi a debut in the first game with either Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson. And in the second game again, either of them. So he would play both the matches, and Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson would play one out of the two matches. That is what I thought when the team left for Ireland. Because that’s a very good way of breaking in a youngster before the sterner tests of England,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“I think he will play in one of the matches, if not all the matches in England. Depends on what happens in the second T20I against Ireland. It really would be unthinkable if India lost a series to Ireland. We are the world champions. It’s not just Indian cricket. We are the world champions. Ireland is a full-member team. But Ireland has also beaten full-member teams in the past. But not so much in the T20 format. Perhaps in the 50-over format, they have managed to surprise other teams. So, this game becomes very, very important. And depending on this game, we’ll probably get a better idea,” he added.
‘Exceptional talent’
Gavaskar also added that the world cannot wait to see Sooryavanshi in action after his recent exploits, in which he smashed the fastest List-A fifty, reaching the milestone off just 11 balls against Sri Lanka in the Tri-Nation Series final.
“We saw the other day, who gets to a half-century in list A cricket in just 11 deliveries, the fastest in list A cricket. I mean, these are things which are unthinkable. These are things which are really, really, very, very special. And that is why there is excitement around him. That is why the belief is that he should be played. And that is why the desire of so many to see him don the India colours,” Gavaskar said.
“So yes, one can understand that. But as you said, you don’t break partnerships, you know, just like that. But maybe you could still find a place, and that’s why this fact becomes important. You could still find a place if India doesn’t do well, if the Indian openers don’t do well again this time around. You might see him open the batting against England. And one of them is being dropped down the order, maybe not dropped out of the 11, one of the openers would be dropped down the order. But as I said, it depends on what happens in the second T20I against Ireland,” he added.
