Last Updated on 4 hours ago by Charbel Coorey
India simply couldn’t leave him out. After slamming 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30 in IPL 2026, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi won selection for India’s upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England.
“For someone so young to perform and consistently back himself in such high-pressure and competitive environments is truly special,” said Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar at a press briefing in Mumbai, as quoted by foxsports.com.au.
“We have very high hopes for him and are excited to see how he develops at the international level.”
Ian Ward, Mark Butcher and Simon Doull praise Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as 15-year-old called up to India’s T20I squad
Sooryavanshi’s selection comes off the back of a stellar IPL season. He smashed 72 sixes, easily surpassing the previous record of 59, held by Chris Gayle.
He struck five half-centuries and a century in 16 matches. His strike rate of 237.30 was more than 25 points better than the next best (Priyansh Arya’s 211.62) among players with at least 300 runs.
Speaking on Sky Sports during a rain delay in the England-New Zealand Test, Ian Ward, Mark Butcher and Simon Doull were in awe of the 15-year-old.
“His ball-striking is ridiculous,” said Ward. “Utterly ridiculous,” replied Butcher. “The first time that he came to notice for me was during the U19 World Cup and he made that 175 in the final against England. And just from watching that… I was watching him strike the ball, his follow through, his ability to find pretty much every corner of the ground.
“The first thing that flashed in my head was [Sir Garfield] Sobers and the bat swing that takes it all the way around and the pure commitment to hitting the ball as hard as you can.”
Butcher said he wondered whether Sooryavanshi could transfer such a performance to men’s level cricket. The 15-year-old certainly did in the recent IPL, flaying some of the world’s top bowlers to all parts of the ground.
“He has done this in the IPL. The biggest and best T20 competition in the world against the very, very best players. He flayed Pat Cummins the other night, absolutely flayed him. He’s hit more sixes in an IPL than even Chris Gayle, and he’s 15 years old, and people are still going ‘oh well, you know, he needs to prove himself’.
“Maybe he does, none of that is a guarantee that he comes out and becomes a brilliant Test player or a brilliant ODI player, but can we just for once go ‘oh my goodness’ that is extraordinary. He is an astonishing talent and it’d be great to see him over here.”
Simon Doull spoke of Sooryavanshi’s mindset as one that is reflective of young Indian players today. They are fearless, look to attack and benefit from playing in front of large crowds in the IPL.
“This is a side looking forward to the next T20 World Cup [in 2028],” Doull said. “Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, leading run-scorer in the recent IPL with well over 750 runs. Unbelievable talent. Another two years on him before the next T20 World Cup. They’ve got to get him into the side, they had to find a way, he forced his way in purely and simply from runs.
“[Six-hitting] is the mindset of many a young Indian player at the moment. It’s what the IPL has done… the bravado, the excitement. He [Sooryavanshi] won’t play in front of a bigger crowd outside of India… in a World Cup. What they are setting themselves up for here at the IPL is basically… it’s as noisy, it’s as tough, you’re playing against the best in the world, it sets you up beautifully for international cricket.
“There’ll be about 8,000 or 10,000 [in the first T20I at Chester-le-Street, Durham]. He’s played in front of 100,000 people this kid at 15.”
Sooryavanshi’s inclusion was not the only big news. Shreyas Iyer has replaced Suryakumar Yadav as captain, with the former rewarded for his exploits with the Punjab Kings.
