Image courtesy: Instagram/@vaibhav_sooryavanshi09
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially revealed India’s men’s squad for Ireland, England and the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, with Shreyas Iyer named captain and teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi receiving his maiden call-up to the senior national team T20 squad.The selection marks a major shift in India’s white-ball style, with Iyer taking over the leadership role in place of Suryakumar Yadav. The move reflects the selectors’ long-term strategy to expand India’s captaincy options ahead of the 2028 T20 World Cup.However, the inclusion that is grabbing the headlines is undoubtedly 15-year-old batting talent Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The Rajasthan Royals youngster has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year, establishing himself as one of the brightest talents in Indian cricket.Sooryavanshi played a pivotal role in India’s 2026 U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign, earning Player of the Tournament and Player of the Final honors. He carried that form into IPL 2026, where he amassed a staggering 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30, making his way into national selection talks.Chief selector Ajit Agarkar admitted that the teenager’s performance left the selectors with no choice but to include him in the squad.
“Vaibhav’s performance almost forced us to choose him. I know he’s still young, but two consecutive seasons in the ISL and what he’s done at Under-19 level speaks for itself. We can all see what kind of talent he has,” Agarkar said at the press conference.
“There will be tougher challenges but he has shown promise and great temperament. We are all optimistic like everyone else. He selected himself through his own performances,” Ajit Agarkar added. India lineup for Ireland vs England T20Is: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dubey, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.India squad for the Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (centre), Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dubey, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun C, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Jasprit Bumrah.
