Vaibhav Sooryavanshi earns maiden India call-up for T20Is against Ireland, England

MUMBAI: 15-year-old left-handed opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on Saturday earned his maiden India call-up as he was named in their squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England in June and July this year.

The batting sensation, who rose to fame during last year's Indian Premier League (IPL) by smashing a 35-ball century for inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals, became the youngest player to be picked for India men's cricket team since Sachin Tendulkar in the late 1980s.

Sooryavanshi has thus far played 34 T20s, scoring 1477 runs at an average of 44.75 and an astounding strike rate of 220.44 with the help of four centuries and six fifties.

He also finished as the leading run-scorer of this year's IPL as he accumulated 776 runs in just 16 innings at an average of 48.50 and a hefty strike rate of 237.30. The 15-year-old also registered one century and five fifties during the tournament, further strengthening his case for India selection.

India chief selector Ajit Agarkar, while announcing their squad for the upcoming assignments against Ireland and England, asserted that Sooryavanshi 'has picked himself', acknowledging the selection committee had little choice but to hand him the national call-up.

"I think he just has picked himself really. With his performances, he has almost forced us to pick him with how well he has played. For a young kid… I don't need to talk about how well he is playing. And it's not just this season. He obviously had a great start [to his IPL career] last season," said Agarkar.

"And to back it up for a young kid in a competition that's as competitive and has a high-pressure environment, and how explosive he can be and a game-changer that he can be. Like everyone else that has watched T20 cricket in India, we have got high hopes of him," he added.

However, besides Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's maiden call-up, India appointed Shreyas Iyer as their T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar Yadav, who has been dropped from the squad altogether due to his below-par individual performances in the format.

Furthermore, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravi Bishnoi and Prince Yadav were also brought into the squad, while Kuldeep Yadav and Rinku Singh have been left out of the squad that won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup title earlier this year. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, on the other hand, were rested.

It is pertinent to mention that India will tour Ireland for two T20Is, scheduled to be played in Belfast on June 26 and 28, respectively, before travelling to England for a five-match series, slated to run from July 1 to 11.

India squad for T20I series against Ireland and England

Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vc), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.