IRE vs IND, 1st T20I: Why India postponed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s debut in Ireland

The anticipation was enough. More than a fortnight after the 15-year-old was picked in India’s T20I squad, expectations were mounting that June 26 would be the day Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would make history. He was widely expected to become the youngest cricketer to receive an Indian cap in Belfast, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s 37-year-old record. Live updates | Scorecard

However, the Indian team postponed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s debut. Newly appointed captain Shreyas Iyer has confirmed that the teenager has not made the playing eleven for the opening T20I series in Belfast.

When asked to explain the decision, Shreyas said that the team management wanted to support the senior players who were part of the T20 World Cup winning Indian team. Incidentally, this is India’s first T20I since winning the World Cup in March.

“Unfortunately not. He’s a scorer. But we have experience in the squad. And the seniors have done brilliantly in the last two series for India. So we’re backing most of them who have done absolutely brilliantly. So I think he’ll get an opportunity when the time comes. But for now we’re going with three real seamers, one all-rounder,” Iyer said.

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar backed the big call, saying he was pleased India had resisted the temptation to field the 15-year-old in the playing XI, stressing that it would be unfair to drop Sanja Samson or Abhishek Sharma.

“You can’t drop Abhishek Sharma after he scored 50 off 20 balls in the World Cup final. Samson went crazy during the World Cup. His last three scores were 93 not out, 89 and 89. So you can’t drop those guys just because we’re excited about the young guys,” he told Sony LIV.

“India are doing the right thing and that’s the right message. They got rid of a key captain, World Cup winner Suryakumar Yadav. So India’s focus now is on merit in cricket, which it should always be. I’m glad they didn’t get too carried away with the excitement around this young lad. He can wait for his turn and he has time.”

INDIA PLAYING XI VS IRELAND IN 1ST T20I

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (keeper), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.

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Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

Jun 26, 2026 5:56 PM IST