Sunil Gavaskar gives blunt response to calls for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s India debut: 'Don’t look at...'

Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar has delivered a no-nonsense take on the debate of whether Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should be called up to the Indian T20I side at the age of 15. With close to 700 runs in IPL 2026 at a strike rate of 243, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is currently the Orange Cap holder. His blistering form, which included a 97 off just 29 balls in the IPL Eliminator, has given rise to demands from the BCCI to send him to the Indian side. Team India will travel to Ireland in late June for two T20Is followed by five matches against England in July.

Sunil Gavaskar wants Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in Team India Amid the clamour, Sunil Gavaskar has thrown his weight behind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, asking BCCI selectors to pick him as soon as possible. “He (Vaibhav) is absolutely ready for T20Is," Gavaskar told Sports Tak. “I hope that when India’s T20I squad for the England tour is selected, he gets a place in the team. He absolutely deserves it because after such a tremendous performance, if you won’t pick him now, then when will you?" “Don’t look at his age. Don’t look at his age at all, because the way he is hitting boundaries against players who are 15 years older than him — players who have far more international cricket experience — and sending them into the stands, his age simply shouldn’t matter," he added. Gavaskar added that it's important not to look at Sooryavanshi’s age but his batting and the possibility that his talent offers. “Don’t look at Sooryavanshi’s age.

Just look at the way he is playing, the style in which he is playing. There is absolutely no fear in him. No fear at all. You know how children play — go to any street or any ground — when we were kids, did we ever play defensively?

We only became defensive as we grew older. Even in tennis-ball cricket, we always tried to hit big shots. That’s exactly what Sooryavanshi is doing," Gavaskar said. “And this is what I pray to God for — that the child within his game and his approach never grows old. May that child always remain alive in him, because through that spirit he will continue giving all of us joy," he added.