Last Updated on 38 minutes ago by Charbel Coorey
India’s tour of England kicks off on July 1, and the big question is whether teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will make his international debut. His omission from the XI in both of India’s defeats in Ireland led to plenty of debates, and one wonders whether the T20 World Cup champions will give him an opportunity straight away in the first T20I at Chester-le-Street.
India have had barely any time to reflect on a shock 2-0 series defeat in Belfast. Their batting did not get going in both encounters, as they were outplayed and out-thought by an Irish team on the up.
England too have a very quick turnaround, with Harry Brook set to lead barely three days after their 2-1 Test series loss against New Zealand.
India possible XI for opening T20I in Chester-le-Street: The Vaibhav Sooryavanshi question
1. Abhishek Sharma, 2. Sanju Samson, 3. Ishan Kishan (wk), 4. Shreyas Iyer (c), 5. Tilak Varma, 6. Axar Patel, 7. Shivam Dube, 8. Harshit Rana, 9. Prince Yadav, 10. Arshdeep Singh, 11. Varun Chakravarthy
Going by what captain Shreyas Iyer said on the eve of the series, India are likely to stick with the same top order that led them to the 2026 T20 World Cup title.
“Look, all the players in the team have performed well, it’s not that only one individual has performed well,” Shreyas said, as quoted by TOI.
“But we have to build that opportunity and security, so that each individual has confidence going forward into the tournaments. The players who have won the last World Cup definitely have an idea of how to play T20, and continuously they have been the main pillars of that format, so it’s very important to back them.”
When asked whether India will hand Sooryavanshi a debut, Shreyas said he won’t disclose team information and backs the 15-year-old to deliver whenever he gets the chance.
“You never know what is going to happen. Our hands are also tied at the moment in terms of what we are going to do. That is very private,” he said.
“This is something that we discuss in the team. We can’t let everyone know about what combination we are going to play and let the opponents know that this is going to happen. He is a prodigy and whenever he gets an opportunity to play, definitely, he will do brilliant.”
On the bowling front, Varun Chakravarthy is back in the squad after missing the Ireland series due to a foot injury. India could also hand a cap to the impressive Prince Yadav over Prasidh Krishna, who was very expensive in the first T20I against Ireland.
