‘Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has to…’ - Sunil Gavaskar calls for major jugging in batting order after India's Ireland horror

Former India captain called for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's inclusion in the Indian playing XI from the very first T20I against England, starting next month, after the Men in Blue suffered their first-ever series defeat to Ireland on Sunday. Led by new captain Shreyas Iyer, the Indian team with several young faces, lost both the T20Is to Ireland, the latest by a narrow one run.

Following a Orange Cap-winning show for Rajasthan Royals (776 runs) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and a brilliant outing for India A in the tri-nation series, Sooryavanshi earned his maiden senior India call-up at the age of just 15 years. However, when everyone thought the Samastipur-born lad will make his T20I debut, India chose to stick with their Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson opening pair at the top of the batting order.

Although Abhishek had scored a fifty in the first game, the Punjab left-hander and Samson, both registered first-ball ducks - first time for India. Following India's defeat, Gavaskar was on point with his opinion.

“Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has to play from the very first T20 against England, even it means juggling the batting order a bit,” the legendary batter told Aajtak on Sunday. India will next play England in a five-match T20I series, the first of which starts on July 1.

Who will Vaibhav Sooryavanshi replace?

There is no doubt Samson has been in form in 2026. After his three-consecutive match-winning shows, including two 90-plus knocks in the T20 World Cup 2026, Samson struck two hundreds for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026 to continue his form.

If Sooryavanshi comes in against England, the 15-year-old will certainly replace the out-of-form Abhishek. Although he scored 500-plus runs in IPL 2026 for Sunrisers Hyderabad, but when it comes to national teams, the southpaw had time and again faltered.

In fact, his duck against Ireland in the second game was his sixth in 2026. Earlier, he had registered three consecutive ducks in the T20 World Cup 2026 against the likes of the USA, Pakistan and Netherlands.

Why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi didn't play vs Ireland?

The Indian team didn't want to rush Sooryavanshi straightway into the mix, something that was pre-planned by the Indian team management. "I am sure that he will get his dues and his opportunities," batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had said before the start of the series.

“So I don't think that just to give him an opportunity, we should drop someone who has already been scoring runs. That also won't be right,” explained Kotak. "Obviously, it depends on the team management... what we plan to do in this match. That is a different thing.

"But I think it is a very thin line between trying to give somebody an opportunity and you being unfair to some other player." Indian captain Iyer too echoed the same during the toss before the first T20I.