Vaibhav Sooryavanshi becomes youngest to make international debut for India

MANCHESTER: 15-year-old left-handed opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has become the youngest cricketer to make international debut for India after being named in the reigning champions' lineup for the second T20I against England, scheduled to be played here at Old Trafford on Saturday.

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, surpassed legend Sachin Tendulkar to become the youngest to represent India at the international level.

Notably, Tendulkar made his international debut for India against traditional rivals Pakistan in December 1989 at the age of 16 years and 205 days, while Sooryavanshi is aged just 15 years and 99 days.

Sooryavanshi was also the youngest player to be picked for India men's cricket team since Tendulkar when they announced squads for the T20I series against Ireland and England, respectively.

The left-handed opener, however, was not considered for selection in each of the two T20Is against Ireland, followed by the series opener against England, which was washed out due to persistent rain in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.

India's newly-appointed T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, who started his stint with a gruelling 2-0 away series defeat at the hands of Ireland, confirmed the development after winning the toss and opting to bat first, sharing Sooryavanshi would replace Sanju Samson in their playing XI.

Iyer further hailed the 15-year-old for showing immense confidence and thus insisted that he deserved to be in the lineup.

"One change, Vaibhav [Sooryavanshi] comes in for Sanju [Samson]," said Iyer at the toss.

"You've seen him in the last couple of months, the way he's been smashing the ball, taking on the best of the bowlers, shows immense confidence that he possesses.

"I feel that he completely deserves to be in the squad the way he has performed in the last couple of months and years. He's someone who doesn't take pressure at all. The way you see him inside the dressing room, he's got that unflinching nature. And so good to have him around."

India playing XI for second T20I against England:

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy.