Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s much-awaited T20I debut may have been delayed, but former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes the 15-year-old prodigy is already breathing down the necks of first-choice openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma-more so the former. Manjrekar’s comments came after India suffered a shock defeat against Ireland in the first of a two-match T20I series, marking their first-ever loss to the Irish side in any format.
Quite a few experts and fans expected Sooryavanshi to receive his maiden cap on Friday, June 26. However, the team management and newly appointed captain Shreyas Iyer opted to retain the T20 World Cup-winning opening pair of Samson and Abhishek for the series opener. Iyer explained that they did not want to tinker with a winning combination, whilst reassuring that Sooryavanshi’s time would come sooner rather than later.
Yet, a compelling case for the teenager’s inclusion has emerged after the Indian batting unit collapsed spectacularly in Belfast. Chasing 183, the visitors were bundled out for a mere 148 in 18.5 overs. Samson failed to get going, dismissed in the very first over by left-arm pacer Jai Moondra. Though Samson got off the mark with a boundary, he was quickly undone by the left-arm angle – a recurring technical flaw that continues to plague the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter.
While Abhishek Sharma provided a solitary spark with a blistering 19-ball fifty, the rest of the line-up crumbled. Captain Shreyas fell for 3, whilst vice-captain Tilak Varma could only manage 19.
“Sanju Samson needs to be careful because Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is breathing down his and Abhishek Sharma’s necks,” Manjrekar told Sony Sports in the post-match analysis.
Despite the wobble, the team management is expected to give Samson and Abhishek a longer rope. Abhishek has been one of India’s most consistent performers in the shortest format, while Samson is fresh from lighting up the recent T20 World Cup, where he played match-winning knocks in both the semi-final and the final against New Zealand.
Vaibhav has headed to Ireland on the back of a record-breaking 29-ball 94 for India A in a tri-series final against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla earlier this month. The wonder kid also won the IPL 2026 Orange Cap, amassing 776 runs, including a record-breaking tally of 72 sixes.
NOT EASY FOR SOORYAVANSHI?
Interestingly, Manjrekar backed the decision to shield Sooryavanshi from the series opener despite his record-breaking form of late. The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that the Belfast surface was far from a batting paradise, suggesting that the expansive boundary dimensions would have tested the youngster.
“I think he would have done what Abhishek did, slightly better, maybe. A chase where you had to do everything in the first six overs. You had to carry that momentum for the rest of the overs as well. So he could have made things a little easier in the chase, but the target became just too big, and conditions weren’t easy. And you saw in the tri-series in Dambulla as well how the sixes weren’t coming as often to him,” Manjrekar observed.
“And it was a reminder, and I’m very glad that you know I said that earlier as well, that people got an idea as to how sixes are not so easy to hit. So Vaibhav would have managed it in the first six overs, but he also would have had his work cut out later. And to answer your question, I don’t think it would have made that much of a difference unless you want to play him down the order. Middle order, there is some place there, but at the top, I don’t think there is any place,” he added.
India will look to restore parity and level the series when they face Ireland in the second and final T20I on Sunday, June 28. Whether the team management hands Sooryavanshi his international debut remains the big talking point ahead of the match. Following the Belfast assignment, India are scheduled to travel to across the Irish Sea for a five-match T20I series against England starting on July 1.
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