Gavaskar is making it clear: every time Team India doesn’t pick him, they are piling on for the day he finally does. The 15-year-old was the talk of the 2026 IPL, yet he was passed over for the first T20I with England – a match that rained out anyway, so the wait just goes on.
His take is as straightforward as you like. The more you put it off, the more there is to prove when the kid steps out for India. Then again, at 15, you don’t carry the same kind of baggage, and that could be the difference when the moment is here.
“It will put him under more pressure whenever he gets an opportunity,” he told us on Sony Sports. “But at 15 years of age, you don’t think too much about pressure… he will have to deliver almost immediately… But he is happy to be around.”
Why the call matters
It is hard to reconcile Sooryavanshi being a benchwarmer with what he put in during the IPL. He made 776 runs in 16 games and was the tournament’s MVP. That is the sort of form that should see you in the eleven in no time.
India has other ideas. They have stuck with the likes of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, even after taking a surprise series loss in Ireland. Sooryavanshi was there to see it from the sidelines for both of those, and the build-up is only getting louder.
The records within reach
Then there is the matter of history. Put him in for this England series and he is the youngest to ever play in a men’s T20I at this level, putting Joshua Little in the shade.
He would also be the first to wear the senior India cap since Sachin Tendulkar was 16. All of that stirs up the kind of expectations Gavaskar is talking about.
Rain masks India’s batting revival
We didn’t get to see the rest of the story in Chester-le-Street. The rain set in during the break and the umpires had to throw in the towel, so England never got to have a go and we were left with a no result.
A shame for India’s middle order, which had come back strongly from 6 for 2 to 189 for 7. Shreyas Iyer was solid with 68 in 47 balls, while Abhishek Sharma made 59 in 24 and Shivam Dube put on an unbroken 42 off 21.
Even in a short night there were moments. Saqib Mahmood was good for 3 for 33, Tom Banton put in a fine stop at backward point to end Samson’s innings, and Kishan was caught in a mix-up. And Abhishek? He became the quickest to 100 T20I sixes in 785 balls.
Pressure vs opportunity in the dressing room
Gavaskar’s view is not just about one player. “He knows that if he gets the opportunity in the second or third game, he will have to deliver almost immediately,” he said, and you can see the difficulty in a side this deep.
But he has no doubt about the value of where Sooryavanshi is right now. “This Indian team is full of lovely, tremendous players, and it is just fantastic for him to be learning from them.” For a young man, being in the room with them is a way to shorten the learning curve.
What to watch next
Now it is up to the people in charge. The current lot have the momentum, but the calls for the prodigy will only get more insistent with every game he is left out. How they handle it will define the story of his debut.
Some of the choices India has to make:
– Go with the Samson-Abhishek-Kishan combination once more
– Give Sooryavanshi a place and a purpose
– Keep the in-group in check on what is expected of a new face
– Make the right call on conditions without losing sight of the bigger picture
One way or another, the bar is set. Let him in and you have a bit of history on your hands and eyes on you. Wait any longer and you might whet the appetite, but as Gavaskar would have it, you are also raising the hurdle the 15-year-old has to jump over the second he is named in the side.
