The Wait Goes On! 15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Misses Out On Historic Debut For Team India Against Ireland

Ireland vs India, 1st T20I: The wait for history stretches on, as 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was denied his much-anticipated debut for Team India in the opening T20I against Ireland at Belfast’s Civil Service Cricket Club on Friday, June 26.

Sooryavanshi earned his call-up after an outstanding performance in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.

The teenager finished as the IPL 2026’s highest run-scorer, amassing 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.31 and an average of 48.50, including 72 sixes and 63 fours.

He also impressed in the U19 World Cup 2026, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer with 439 runs from seven matches at a strike rate of 169.49 and an average of 62.71. His tally included one century and three half-centuries.

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Shreyas Iyer Opens Up On Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

While speaking at the toss before the start of the 1st T20I match of the series, India skipper Shreyas Iyer confirmed that Sooryavanshi will not be playing against Ireland in Belfast. The India skipper also showered praise on the 15-year-old, calling him a gun player.

"Unfortunately, no. He’s a gun player. But obviously, we’ve got tremendous experience in the squad who have done brilliantly in the past couple of series for India. So we are backing the majority of our cricketers who have been doing absolutely marvellous throughout the season. So I think he’s outside the leg-stump get his opportunity when the time comes. But for now, we are going with three genuine seamers, one all-rounder, and two spinners," Shreyas Iyer said at the toss.

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India Opt To Bowl Against Ireland

At the toss, India won the toss and opted to bowl against Ireland.

Ireland Playing XI: Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (Wk/C), Benjamin Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Liam McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys, Jai Moondra, Matthew Hollard.

India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (Wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.