Sunil Gavaskar Makes Bold Selection Call On Vaibhav Sooryavanshi For India's White-Ball Tour To England

Former Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar is gung-ho over getting Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into the Indian T20I team for the upcoming tour of England, even if it comes at the cost of dropping an already established opener from the playing XI of a World Cup-winning team.

Sooryavanshi blew everyone away with his majestic shot-making in the IPL 2026 Eliminator, including the legend Sunil Gavaskar. The 15-year-old smashed 97 runs off just 29 balls, consisting of 12 sixes and five fours, and took down every SRH bowler, including veteran Pat Cummins.

"2026 will be remembered as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Year. He (Sooryavanshi) is ready to play T20 International cricket," Gavaskar said in a YouTube show Sports Tak.

"For England away T20 series, he will be selected. I mean he deserves to be selected after this brilliant show. If you don't give him chance after this performance, when will you give him chance?

Gavaskar cautioned selectors not to get caught up in his age and select him on the basis of his performance and ability to smack world-class bowlers, having international experience equivalent to his age.

"Don't go by his age. He is hitting those bowlers who are older than him. In fact at 15, he is hitting bowlers with 15 years of international experience. Just look at his fearless approach," Gavaskar said.

Sooryavanshi Chasing Samson-Abhishek's Opening Spot

India have a well-settled opening pair in the form of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma and having Sooryavanshi in contention could create some serious selection headaches for the selectors as well as the team management.

Yet Gavaskar thinks otherwise and believes that it's a good headache to have, which is only a testament to Indian cricket's depth of talent.

"Yes there will be headache as to whom you should drop. But it is a happy headache to have. When your option is whom to drop, that speaks of your country's depth of talent.

"I think he (Sooryavanshi) will be kept in squad of 15 or 16 but whether he will be in 11 or not can be decided later. But the experience he will gain in that dressing room will be priceless," Gavaskar added.

Sunil Gavaskar also brushed aside the concept of calling someone, who only deals in sixes a "slogger". The original Little Master stated that anyone who can smash straight sixes is not a slogger by any means.

"What we saw yesterday, even when I take into account some of his earlier innings, was different. He is not just special, he is very, very extra-ordinarily special.

"When we visualize six hitters, the idea of a slogger comes to our mind. But this kid hits straight sixes -- over long on and long off with technical perfectness.

Sooryavanshi Is God's Gift To India - Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar praised Sooryavanshi's technique to get under the short ball and deposit it in the stands, hailing him as god's gift to Indian cricket.

He said that, like most Indian fans, he was also disappointed by Sooryavanshi's dismissal. Sooryavanshi missed the record of Chris Gayle's fastest century off 30 balls as he got out after scoring 97 off just 29 balls.

"And when one bowls short balls, he comes inside the line and hooks and pulls it with such cleanliness, that's a rarity. Not just me but everyone apart from SRH players were sad when he got out at 97 and missed the record for fastest century. Sooryavanshi is God's gift to Indian cricket."

Gavaskar had the fortune of seeing Sachin Tendulkar as a 15 year old playing for Mumbai and he didn't exactly get into a comparison.

"Sachin had all qualities. He could attack, he could defend, all shots in the book. His balance was very different. When I saw him for first time, I thought that he too was God's gift.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was already the talk of the town after his exploits in the IPL last year and the U-19 World cup final at the start of the year but his performance has elevated his reputation to the next level.