BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia Reveals Why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's Parents Are Allowed On England-Ireland Tour

Devajit Saikia has explained why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was granted special permission to have his parents accompany him on the tour of Ireland and England. The 15-year-old has already become the youngest Indian men's cricketer to receive a maiden call-up, while Sachin Tendulkar remains India's youngest debutant after making his first appearance at the age of 16 and a half.

Sooryavanshi could potentially surpass that record in the future. Currently, he has been selected to be a part of the India T20 squad that will play seven T20Is in Ireland (2) and England (5), and the BCCI feels that having his parents by his side will help the teenager get comfortable in an adult environment and deal with any problems that could arise in such a setting.

"You see, not all national teams at the senior level have a 14 or 15-year-old in their squad. After many decades, we have someone like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi," Saikia told PTI in an exclusive interview.

"At one point in time, it was Sachin Tendulkar (16 and half at time of Test debut) who made it to the national team at such a young age. When such a young kid is part of the senior team, there are obviously a lot of issues that can crop up," he added without elaborating.

"Therefore, to make him comfortable and help him get used to an adult environment, where all the other players are above 18 years of age, and the team management members are also adults, we felt it would be helpful," Saikia, a former Ranji Trophy player for Assam, stated further.

Saikia even gave the example of a teacher accompanying a school student during an outing to guide and take care of his/her well-being. Similarly, he feels that his parents will look after him in his first tour with the senior national team just like they have done till now.

"We are doing this because we believe it will ease a lot of issues as far as Vaibhav is concerned. Even when a school student goes on an excursion, there is usually a senior person accompanying them. Vaibhav is still a kid. He has only just come out of school, or is perhaps in his final year of school.

"So, we thought it is proper to allow his parents to travel with him. I am very happy that his parents are also taking good care of their kid, who is an asset for Indian cricket not only now but for the next two or three decades," he added.