If anything, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the hottest property in world cricket, has provided enough evidence of being a fearless batsman in his first two international matches. It takes a lot of guts and skill to hit sixes off 140 kmph-plus deliveries in international cricket. But the left-handed batsman with a gorgeous ‘Rainbow Swing’ of the bat slammed a 142-kmph ball on his T20 international debut — only the fourth ball he faced and the first one he faced from fast bowler Jofra Archer, his Rajasthan Royals teammate — for a six.
These days, the half sweep-half paddle has become a routine scoring shot in T20 cricket. But few would have delighted fans more than Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s audacious six off Jofra Archer. Dropping to one knee, the 15-year-old guided a 142-kmph delivery over fine leg, announcing his arrival on the global stage and underlining the fearless talent that has made him cricket’s brightest young prospect.
Sooryavanshi’s 10-ball 14 contained two sixes, and he provided enough glimpses of his batting — in the same vein as he did in the two seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), particularly the 2026 edition. Significantly, he became the youngest Indian to make an international debut at 15 years and 99 days, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record by one year and 106 days. Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days old when he made his Test debut against Pakistan in November 1989, in the first match of the series in Karachi. Sooryavanshi’s international debut came in a T20 encounter against England in Manchester on July 4.
Comparison with Tendulkar
Since Sooryavanshi broke Tendulkar’s record, the comparison was inevitable. Maninder Singh was a member of the Indian team that toured Pakistan in 1989 and watched Tendulkar take on Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis without flinching from the dressing room. Then, Maninder, as a television commentator, watched Sooryavanshi smash bowlers to smithereens in the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament in Doha last year and came out mightily impressed, though he wouldn’t immediately compare the two cricketers, like the rest of the world is doing.
However, Maninder, himself a gifted left-arm spinner who made his Test debut at 17 years and 193 days, recalled an anecdote involving the two prodigies and candidly admitted that he “made a fool of himself” by giving advice to Tendulkar on that Pakistan tour.
“In Doha, I saw Sooryavanshi bat for the first time — he smashed the UAE bowlers to all parts of the ground on his way to a 42-ball 144, hitting 15 sixes and 11 boundaries — and I said on air that he would also have to learn to play along the ground as well. I also said that I had been wrong in the past, and cited the example of giving advice to Tendulkar on the 1989 tour of Pakistan. When I saw Sachin bowl his leg-spinners in the nets in Pakistan, I told him to concentrate on leg-spin as wells since he bowled them very well, besides his batting, because when India’s batting wouldn’t click, he could bowl spin,” Maninder told Patriot.
Tendulkar went on to capture 201 wickets in international cricket while Maninder, like Tendulkar, made his Test debut at the same venue, Karachi’s National Stadium, though in 1982.
Sooryavanshi ended the Asia Cup Rising Stars with a strike rate of 243.87 — miles ahead of the others — and with the second-highest tally of 239 runs, just 19 short of the topper. Later, he exhibited his talent again when he hammered an 80-ball 175 (15x4s, 15x6s, strike rate 218.75) in the 2026 Under-19 World Cup final against England in February and helped India win the title by 100 runs.
Late baptism
Sooryavanshi was first picked for the Indian team for two T20 Internationals in Ireland immediately preceding the England tour, but he was inexplicably not played in either encounter. The likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, besides many other experts, criticised the Indian team management’s decision not to play him against Ireland.
Even as pressure from millions of fans and social media mounted against captain Shreyas Iyer and coach Gautam Gambhir to pick Sooryavanshi in the playing XI, the prodigious left-hander was again ignored for the first of the five T20 Internationals in England that was abandoned midway due to rain.
Finally, Sooryavanshi received his India cap for the second match at Old Trafford, Manchester — the venue where Tendulkar scored his first Test century in 1990.
Nervous start
Sooryavanshi opened the innings in Manchester and scored his 14 runs at a strike rate of 140 before charging down to off-spinner Will Jacks and getting stumped by Jos Buttler. His childhood coach, Manish Ojha, feels his most famous protégé took that step down the pitch due to nervousness.
“His intent as such was good and he was very positive. No doubt. And it did not look like he was playing for India for the first time. But at the same time, he was overaggressive and perhaps a little nervous as well. After all, the country had such high expectations from him, and he also expected a lot from himself,” Ojha, a former Bihar first-class cricketer, told Patriot.
“On the ball off which Vaibhav was stumped, the bowler guessed his intent. As Vaibhav moved a bit to the leg side, Jacks bowled a little wide of his off stump and had him stumped. I thought Vaibhav was a bit overaggressive in doing that,” he said.
Maninder agrees with Ojha. “It was the first time that I saw Vaibhav a bit nervous. Also, if you don’t get nervous, you won’t perform. So, to perform, it is very important to be nervous. Even Sachin once said, after playing 400 one-dayers, that he still got nervous when he went out to bat,” he points out.
“The ball on which he got out, he looked nervous, probably thinking something like, ‘Oh, I’ve scored only 14 off 10 balls.’ He probably expected himself to score an 11-ball 50. He will have to realise that he was now playing with men, and not playing on Indian pitches, but on bouncy pitches. He will, however, learn these things, as he is a quick learner,” said the former Delhi cricketer.
Ojha, on the other hand, does not tire of talking about the six that Sooryavanshi hit off Archer. “Suryakumar Yadav plays the leg-side flick off his pads with a lot of confidence; they often go for sixes. I once saw him hit those sixes from close range at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy. And you can say that the shot Vaibhav played off Archer was a mix of Surya’s flick and Vaibhav’s own leg-side execution,” he says.
Sterner tests ahead
It was the first time that Sooryavanshi was playing for the senior team and against some of the world’s best bowlers. While admitting that he was “emotional” about the talented batsman, Maninder says sterner tests lie ahead of him when he plays on the bouncy pitches in Australia and South Africa.
“When I say I am a little emotional about him, and have a soft corner for him, what I say might not be totally fair. Hitting Archer, who bowls at 150 kmph-plus, was part of the glimpses that he showed. However, I would like him to get runs against the ‘big boys’ in different conditions,” he says.
Age controversy debunked
Some of Sooryavanshi’s detractors say, rather uncharitably, that the Bihar cricketer fudged his age. Maninder saw him closely in Doha and was convinced that the issue has no legs to stand on, debunking a controversy that crops up at times, mostly on social media.
“He is a kid. After all, he scored 776 runs, that too at a strike rate of 237.30, in the 2026 IPL [in the 2025 IPL, he scored 205 runs at a strike rate of 206.55 in seven matches]. Someone doesn’t get selected for the Indian team just like that. And there are some who still talk about his age, saying that he is not 15. Even if he is 18 or 19, the way he is batting, how does it matter? You should not even talk about age. I saw him during the Asia Cup Rising Stars. He has a baby face. I think his age in the records is the correct one. Some people are jealous of him,” he said.
