Manchester: Finally, the day that entire India, and perhaps the cricketing world had been waiting for, is here.
Having forced his way into the senior India squad for the tour of the UK, Vaibhav had to wait; he was not part of the playing XI in the two T20Is versus Ireland and then in the first game of the series against England.
But with Sanju Samson managing scores of 5, 0 and 1 in those three games, the team’s brainstrust put their faith on Indian cricket’s boy wonder.
At the age of 15 years, 3 months and 7 days, the kid from Bihar’s Samastipur became India’s youngest international cricketer at the senior level.
He replaced Shafali Verma, who made her debut in women’s internationals at the age of 15 years and 239 days from history books. As for Indian men, Sachin Tendulkar had played for India at 16 years and 205 days.
Vaibhav, who has captured the imagination of the cricket world with his outrageous and consistent six-hitting prowess in the IPL, received his maiden India cap from Tilak Varma after an inspiring speech by coach Gautam Gambhir.
The start of a special chapter ✨
A proud moment as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi receives his #TeamIndia cap from Vice-Captain Tilak Varma 🧢
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/WYfL8tAm58 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/zpLtixYDgM
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 4, 2026
Shreyas Iyer also heaped praise on Vaibhav at the toss.
“You’ve seen him over the last few months and the way he’s been batting. I feel he completely deserves to be in the squad. He’s someone who doesn’t take pressure at all and has an unflinching nature. He’s well aware of what lies ahead in the coming matches. The way he bats in the nets and takes on the bowlers shows the kind of player he is,” the Indian captain said after winning the toss and opting for first strike.
Iyer’s decision meant Vaibhav was straightaway into action.
YOUNGEST MEN TO DEBUT FOR INDIA
TEST MATCHES
Sachin Tendulkar: 16 years 205 days
Piyush Chawla: 17 years 75 days
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan: 17 years 118 days
Parthiv Patel: 17 years 152 days
ODIs
Sachin Tendulkar: 16 years 238 days
Maninder Singh: 17 years 222 days
Harbhajan Singh: 17 years 288 days
Parthiv Patel: 17 years 301 days
T20 INTERNATIONALS
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: 15 years 99 days
Washington Sundar: 18 years 80 days
Rishabh Pant: 19 years 120 days
Ishant Sharma: 19 years 152 days
YOUNGEST INTERNATIONAL DEBUTANTS ACROSS FORMATS
Hasan Raza (Pakistan) – 14 years, 227 days
Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan) – 15 years, 124 days
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (India) – 15 years, 99 days
Mohammad Sharif (Bangladesh) – 15 years, 128 days
Aaqib Javed (Pakistan) – 16 years, 127 days.
