Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breaks Sachin Tendulkar's record, becomes youngest cricketer to play for India

India’s teen batting sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, has etched his name in the history books, becoming the youngest-ever cricketer to play for the country. Sooryavanshi was handed his debut cap for the second T20I against England on Saturday, July 4, at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is 15 years and 99 days old, surpassed legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar, who made his debut at the age of 16 years and 205 days against Pakistan in November, 1989.

Fans had been anticipating his debut ever since he earned his maiden India call-up for the Ireland series. However, the team management said that the teenager would have to wait for his chances. However, following India's shock series loss against Ireland and Sanju Samson's repeated failures, the clamour among fans to bring Sooryavanshi into the team only grew louder.

The long wait finally ended when Tilak Varma handed India cap to Sooryavanshi ahead of the second T20I. The 15-year-old recently featured in the tri-series in Sri Lanka for India A, where he amassed 211 runs from five innings at an average of 42.20 and a strike rate of 200.95.

A special moment for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi! ⭐️🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/316b4iuurN

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 4, 2026

Sooryavanshi saved his best for the final of the series, as he missed out on scoring the fastest List A hundred, playing a breathtaking innings of 94 off 29 balls, with the help of ten fours and eight sixes. Sooryavanshi was also adjudged Player of the Match in India A’s 66-run victory against Sri Lanka A in the summit clash. 

Sooryavanshi's record-breaking IPL

He is fresh from a record-breaking Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) campaign, where he became the youngest player ever to win the Orange Cap award for finishing as the leading run scorer of the tournament. The southpaw hammered 776 runs from 16 innings at an average of 48.50 and a record strike rate of 237.30 with one hundred and five fifties to his name.

He also shattered the 14-year-old record of legendary batter Chris Gayle (59) for hitting the most sixes in a single IPL season by clobbering a whopping 72 maximums in the season.

In his short T20 career so far, the southpaw has already turned heads, scoring 1477 runs from 34 innings at an average of 44.75 and a strike rate of 220.44 with four hundreds and six fifties to his name.