Delayed or rejected? Vaibhav Sooryavanshi offended opinion after Irish shock

Cricket’s polite vocabulary has settled on a word for what happened to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in Belfast: delayed. It’s a convenient word. This makes India sound cautious rather than bad. But delayed for what, exactly, and delayed by whom?

When dealing with a 15-year-old prodigy like Sooryavanshi, the team management is always tempted to wrap their conservatism in the language of caution, arguing that time is entirely on the youngster’s side. But on cricketing merit alone, it reads less like a mature postponement and more like a spurned debut. Photo: PTI

To be clear: the historic series defeat to Ireland in Belfast is no reason to question Sooryavanshi’s omission. The result only revealed cracks in the flawed process. Historically, India have used these peripheral tasks against lesser-ranked sides for precisely this purpose: to bring youth onto the international stage without the suffocating weight of public expectation. Ideally, the left-hander should play in the series opener and be allowed to express his natural talent in a pressure-free environment. Instead, familiar panic set in once India dropped the first T20I. The management, hesitant to drop underperforming incumbents in pursuit of the series, made an almighty mess out of direct transfer.

The hierarchy, including captain Shreyas Iyer and the coaches, sought solace in the familiar, saying they wished to bolster their T20 World Cup-winning core. But if continuity was indeed the gold standard, why was Suryakumar Yadav, the World Cup winning captain, left out of the squad? The Gautam Gambhir-led selection committee and team management left themselves open to allegations of inconsistency.

For his part, Sunil Gavaskar made an even simpler case when he spoke to AajTake: form, not hierarchy, should have solved it in Belfast.

“I have been saying for a month that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could have played both the matches because of his form,” Gavaskar said.

“In one match you could have Abhishek Sharma to open the batting and Sanju Samson in the other with Sooryavanshi. But that didn’t happen. I’m not saying Vaibhav will win you the match. He too might get out after giving 10-15 runs. But if you were to try a young player, these two matches were the perfect opportunity.”

‘PLAY HIM IN ENGLAND’

It’s a no-compromise ultimatum, yet it raises an immediate tactical question: how do you bleed the prodigy without dismantling the opening pair that really held their own in Belfast? Gavaskar’s answer lies in flexibility rather than an outright swap at the top.

“No (you can’t wait any longer). You should play him from the first match in England. It’s so straight forward. Keep the casual batsman on the bench and play Sooryavanshi. That’s it. You’ll either play him as an opener or at No.3, but he has to play the first match of the England series, which is July 1.”

“It can happen. The opening partnership of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma has played really well. So dropping them after two matches is not right. But you can drop the batting from the middle order. So you can play Sooryavanshi at No. 3. But on July 1, you have to play him. If you want to shock England, then you have to play, but if he wants to, you have to play him.”

In any case, Sooryavanshi’s claim was never built on mere hype. He arrived in Ireland after winning the Orange Cap and the MVP award in IPL 2026, dismantling some of the best players in the format along the way. He followed that up with a stint in Sri Lanka with India A, where the pitches rarely favor the visiting batsmen, signing off with a 29-ball 94 in the final in Dambulla, built on an 11-ball fifty. This was not a case of reputation overtaking. Run-ins have already been scored.

LEADERS GET OUT

Gavaskar is far from a lone voice. Former India batsman Mohammed Kaif was equally scathing on his YouTube channel, highlighting what he saw as a direct inconsistency in the selection logic.

“If you were making the best XI, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s name should have been there,” Kaif said.

“The logic that was given was that this is a World Cup winning team and we would play the same XI. And Vaibhav has to wait. Well, that’s your logic. Is that the right logic? Well, Rohit Sharma was the Champions Trophy winning captain. He was removed from the role in the next series and at that time the team was told that we need a new young captain, Yama Surya World. Cup winner, it was said that we are looking at youngsters, at a 15-year-old waiting in the wings and then Sooryavanshi heading into the series after winning the Orange Cap in the best XI, Sooryavanshi shouldn’t have played a different set of rules in the XI.”

Former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary went further and accused the coaching staff of clinging to preconceived notions rather than reading the form in front of them.

“How can we not see Vaibhav in XI?” Tiwary said.

“One of the assistant coaches said ‘just because we need an opportunity for a youngster, we can’t let our players sit out’. But the point is that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is coming into the team with good form. You have rather gone with players who have done well in the T20 World Cup, which happened before the IPL. And your so-called obsessions are not in line with what you expect to do.”

SECOND LOOK

Former India spinner R Ashwin characteristically broke away from the pack. He claimed on his own YouTube channel that there is simply no place for Sooryavanshi in this eleven, not because he lacks runs but because Samson and Abhishek Sharma do not play Test or ODI cricket and need the T20 format to remain relevant in the team structure.

“Right now there is no place for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi,” argued Ashwin.

Why did the whole country expect him to play? That’s the mistake” — R Ashwin on Sooryavanshi’s selection dilemma

Ashwin: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi?

But what mistake did Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson make?
If pic.twitter.com/PXUuZoNkXC— AkCricTalks (@AKCricTalks) June 27, 2026

“If he has to play, then the selectors should send him to tour Zimbabwe where these incumbent openers will not be. But it seems difficult. Sanju Samson is not in the Test or ODI squads and same goes for Abhishek Sharma. Earlier one player played in all three formats. This is ODI cricket preparation year for the Cricket World Cup where they will not play cricket so they will play T. Whatever happened was right, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi demands a place but not at a price incumbent openers, if you have to make room for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, it should come in case of loss of form or injury.”

This tension is now India’s problem to address publicly. Ireland offered the gentlest possible track for the 15-year-old’s debut: low stakes, beatable bowling, nothing to lose. India left it unused and still lost. England come next, five games down, considerably less forgiving, and the easy version of that decision no longer exists.

Sooryavanshi, for what it’s worth, has shown no signs of India needing to be ready on his behalf. Whether India is ready to be asked the question again on July 1 is another matter entirely.

– The end

Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

29 Jun 2026 08:07 IST