Vaibhav Sooryavanshi missed out on making his record-breaking International debut during the two-match T20I series against Ireland as the move baffled many Indian fans. The 15-year-old had been the talk of the town ever since been named in India’s squad for the UK tour, with many expecting the Rajasthan Royals’ sensation to win his maiden India cap.
However, the Men in Blue went with the T20 World Cup pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson for the two contests in Belfast. Many feel the presence of Sooryavanshi in the Playing XI could have made some difference after India suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat to the Irish side, although not just the openers, the whole Indian batting failed big time.
Ryan ten Doeschate speaks on Sooryavanshi’s absence
Meanwhile, India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate spoke on the absence of the star opener from the Playing XI, stressing that he will have to wait in the wings as every other player has waited for his chances. “He (Sooryavanshi) is absolutely ready to play international cricket, there is no doubt about that but also Sanju Samson is a guy who went a long way to win us the World Cup three months ago,” Ten Doeschate said when the inevitable query on Sooryavanshi came up during the post-match press conference.
“He has had a fairly good IPL, and it is important to give players confidence and a message to the players: we want to give guys a long run in the team. We are all excited to see Vaibhav play, but he has to go through the same process; certainly no question about how good he is,” he asserted, echoing a view that was expressed by batting coach Sitanshu Kotak at the beginning of the series.
India suffer humiliating series defeat
India went down to Ireland in the two-match T20I series after losing the second game in Belfast. The Men in Blue failed to chase down a middling total of 155, and only a late blitz from Harshit Rana mitigated the loss margin to one run. This ended India’s three-year-long dominance of not losing a T20I series.ย
Their last T20I series before this defeat was in 2023 when they went down to West Indies 3-2. India’s last whitewash in the format was way back in 2019 when Australia defeated them 2-0.
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