15-year-old prodigy Sooryavanshi left out again by India for 1st T20 against England

CHESTER-LE-STREET, England (AP) — India left out 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again for the start of its five-match T20 series against England.

The tourists kept faith with openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma for the first T20 at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday as they looked to bounce back from a shocking 2-0 series loss to Ireland in the same format last week.

India won the toss and opted to bat first.

Sooryavanshi was a compelling option at the top of the order, though. He was picked in the squad for the tour of Ireland and England after scoring 776 runs in 16 innings in the 2026 Indian Premier League and being voted as the competition’s MVP.

If he makes his debut later in the series, Sooryavanshi — who is aged 15 years and 96 days — will become the youngest player to feature in a top-tier men’s T20. Ireland’s Joshua Little holds the record — he was 16 years and 309 days in his debut in the format.

Sooryavanshi would become the youngest-ever player in India’s senior men’s team. The great Sachin Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days when he made his test debut in 1989, then made his ODI debut 33 days later.

The youngest-ever player in men’s international cricket remains Hasan Raza, who was 14 years and 227 days when he made his test debut for Pakistan in 1996.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket