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2 min readJul 4, 2026 07:40 PM IST
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of India during the 2nd T20 International match between England and India at the Old Trafford, Manchester, England on July 4, 2026. (CREIMAS)
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi began his senior Indian career with a xx-ball 14 runs in an innings which had two sixes in the 2nd T20I vs England at Old Trafford on Saturday. The 15-year-old batter started in his usual aggressive tone, slamming his first six in the first ball of the 2nd over, bowled by Rajasthan Royals teammate Jofra Archer.
His second came at the expense of another debutant Josh Tongue who was taken for a six off the first ball of the third over as well. The teenager finally was bamboozled by Will Jacks in the 5th over after he tried to come down the tracks and attempt a cut. He missed the stroke and was stumped by Jos Buttler for 14.
Sooryavanshi became India’s youngest debutant in international cricket surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar who held the record for nearly 37 years. He has also broken the record for being the youngest Indian in international cricket overall, previously held by Shafali Verma who was a few days older than Sooryavanshi is when she made her debut in September 2019. India captain Shreyas Iyer said at the toss that Sooryavanshi has replaced opener Sanju Samson in the lineup.
At 16 years and 205 days, Tendulkar walked into the nation’s collective consciousness with a game that was built on solid defence and artistic offence, defined by Mumbai’s school of ‘Khadoos’ batsmanship.
At 15 years and 99 days, Sooryavanshi seems unfamiliar with the concept of defence, his style tailor-made for the demands of cricket’s slam-bang T20 version. And he fittingly made his India debut in the same format, against England in the second contest of the five-match series. The five-match series remains tied at 0-0 with the first match having been washed out on Wednesday.
While Tendulkar’s maiden international game was a grainy live PTV footage in that 1989 Test against Pakistan, Sooryavanshi has entered the cauldron with 4k cameras tracking his every move since he landed in the UK.
(With agency inputs)
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