Teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his much-anticipated India debut in the second T20I against England at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.
India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat as Sooryavanshi replaced an out of form Sanju Samson in the playing XI.
Sooryavanshi thus became the youngest cricketer to play for India at the age of 15 years, breaking the record of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar who made his India debut at the age of 16 years in Pakistan in 1989.
England all-rounder Sam Curran described 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s selection for India as a “incredible story” but expressed optimism that the explosive youthful prodigy would be restrained if he made his debut against the Three Lions in the current five-match Twenty20 International series.
After Sooryavanshi’s incredible performance for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2026 Indian Premier League, the cricket community has been eagerly awaiting his international debut since he joined the India team for the UK tour.
“I guess it’s an incredible story. I watched a lot of the IPL for a month, and I was just watching this guy, he looks so easy. It’s truly incredible and it’s rightly so, getting the attention he deserves,” PTI quoted Curran telling the media on the eve of the second T20I against India in Manchester.
“He’s so raw and he’s just having the time of his life, isn’t he? Playing for India at 15 years old is such a cool story and I think even as opposition, you’ve got to admire the skill and things like that,” he added.
However, Curran stated that the pitches and conditions in England might present Sooryavanshi with a different challenge.
“I think England will probably be a different challenge, the pitches are very different, a lot slower than in India. Guys can have their plans and all this kind of thing,” he said.
Curran may have been referring to Sooryavanshi’s IPL run, in which he became this year’s leading scorer with 776 runs at a strike rate of more than 230.
“So I guess, we will have our plans, of course, but I’m not saying they’re the right plans, you never know because he’s playing really well. But at the end of the day, I’ll try and execute my skills, but there’s no doubt that he’s pretty special for what he’s doing,” he said.
Curran, however, advised Sooryavanshi to maintain his composure in the face of the intense praise he receives as an Indian cricketer.
“I think being an Indian cricketer in India is probably much bigger than we are. So I think that’ll probably be his biggest challenge, how he handles that. He has played one or two IPL seasons and is straight into the Indian squad now. I’m sure he’s got people around him trying to help him. But I guess you never know until he’s given his debut and see how he goes.
“I’m sure he’s going to have ups and downs like anybody else, but as a cricket player, you’ve got to enjoy what he’s doing because it is pretty cool. At 15 years old, I think I was just knocking in the Surrey indoor school.”
Curran hoped Sooryavanshi would make the most of his abilities.
“So it is pretty cool, but, hopefully, he can just keep his head down. I’ll just love watching him, and hopefully it’s not against my bowling. But it’s just pretty cool and hopefully for India’s sake he can keep doing really well, but hopefully against us it doesn’t happen as good,” he added.
