Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is making it really difficult for Ajit Agarkar and the rest of the All India Senior Men’s committee to ignore him and look past him for the T20I series against Ireland and England later this year. The 15-year-old smashed a 36-ball century against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match on Saturday, and even Pat Cummins has now become his fan. The Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper was full of praise for the youngster, saying, Sooryavanshi is his “new favourite player.”
Several pundits have already spoken up about how and why Sooryavanshi should make it to India’s playing XI and become the youngest debutant for India. However, former West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite wants the Indian team management to exercise a bit of restraint and make Sooryavanshi aware of the atmosphere at the top level before handing him a debut.
Brathwaite wants the Indian think tank to give Sooryavanshi the same treatment as Brian Lara. It is worth noting that during his initial few years, Lara was touted as the next big thing; however, he was first incorporated into the setup and made to spend time with Vivian Richards. Once he was aware, he was then handed a debut for the West Indies.
“I apologise, Vaibhav, but if you look at how the West Indies handled Brian Lara. He was a generational talent, everyone knew. So what did the West Indies do? They put him in the mix with Viv Richards and whatnot, but he didn’t play international cricket. That was a different time with loads of tour games, and he cut his teeth with the senior players without having made his debut. And then we know how his career went once he debuted,” Braithwaite said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show.
“So maybe there is the best of both worlds – where you can have him with the Indian team – learn from Virat Kohli, learn from Rohit Sharma, learn from Suryakumar Yadav. There are younger players that are close to him in age that he can learn from, before just throwing him in the deep end,” he added.
‘Feel so inadequate’
The T20 World Cup-winning all-rounder was full of praise for Sooryavanshi, saying that at 37, he still can’t do what the youngster is achieving these days at the age of 15. It is worth remembering that it is not just the IPL where Sooryavanshi is plundering runs for fun. He was the Player of the Match in the U19 World Cup final against England, where he smashed 175 runs off just 80 balls.
“It makes me feel so inadequate as a human being. Because at 37, I probably can’t do what he is doing at 15. When I was 15, I was still getting licks from mom and dad. He’s sharing licks to the Bumrahs of the world and the best in the business. To be fair, it is what the IPL is all about. You got 1.8 billion, and you can still unearth a 15-year-old sensation that would be the face of the league probably next year,” said Brathwaite.
“The financial reward, the legacy he can create. He has the world at his feet and is the platform that the IPL can provide. He is just sensational man. I don’t think words can justify it. You just have to marvel at what you are witnessing and enjoy the fact that he’s here,” he added.