Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s meteoric rise reached yet another milestone after the Rajasthan Royals prodigy earned his maiden call-up to the India T20 squad for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England and the Asian Games 2026.
At the age of 15 years and 71 days, the left-handed opener became the youngest player to be picked for the Indian men’s cricket team, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s 36-year-old record.
Tendulkar made his India debut in 1989 against Pakistan at the age of 16 years and 205 days, making him the youngest Indian player ever to feature in a senior international cricket match.
If Sooryavanshi features during the tour, he will also become the youngest player to debut for India in men’s international cricket.
India’s two T20I matches against Ireland are scheduled on June 26 and 28 in Belfast. They will then face England in a five-match T20 series from July 1 to 11.
The men’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games will start on September 24 and conclude with the medal matches on October 3. Even a debut at the continental meet in Japan will keep Vaibhav on track for the record.
Washington Sundar holds the record for the youngest Indian to play a T20I match. He was 18 years and 80 days old when he made his debut in the format against Sri Lanka back in 2017.
Sachin is also the youngest Indian player in ODI cricket history, having played against Pakistan in 1989 when he was 16 years and 238 days old.
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Sooryavanshi’s call-up comes on the back of a sensational IPL 2026 campaign with Rajasthan Royals, where he established himself as one of the breakout stars of the tournament.
Opening the batting for the Royals, the left-hander won the Orange Cap after scoring 776 runs in 16 innings at a staggering strike rate of 237.30. His season included one century, five half-centuries and a record 72 sixes.
The teenager also became the fastest batter in IPL history to reach 1000 runs in terms of balls faced, getting to the landmark in just 440 deliveries during Rajasthan Royals’ Qualifier 2 clash against Gujarat Titans.
Sooryavanshi enjoyed a memorable playoff campaign, smashing 97 off 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator before following it up with 96 off 47 balls in Qualifier 2.
Earlier in the season, he had already made headlines with a blistering 36-ball century against Sunrisers Hyderabad and became the first player to score 500 powerplay runs in a single IPL season.
The youngster also impressed in international age-group cricket earlier this year, starring in India’s victorious U19 World Cup campaign with a breathtaking 175 off 80 balls in the final against England.
When announcing the squad, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar admitted that Sooryavanshi’s performances made his selection impossible to ignore.
“Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s performance forced us to pick him,” Agarkar told reporters. “He has picked himself through his performances with so much talent around in T20 cricket.”
Before joining the senior squad for the Ireland series, Sooryavanshi is set to represent India A for the tri-series in Sri Lanka from June 9 to 21.
Elsewhere, Yashasvi Jaiswal has been called up as a replacement for an injured Virat Kohli for the upcoming India vs Afghanistan ODI series starting on June 13.
Jaiswal is currently part of the one-off India vs Afghanistan Test match being played at the Maharaja Singh PCA Stadium in Punjab from June 6 to 10.
