Runorder: Is 15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Ready for India Debut? | Rayudu & Finch Debate

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Is it time to hand Vaibhav Suryavanshi an India cap? Is he ready for an international debut? Give him a go because he this kid's special. Why are you stopping something that we have not seen for over a decade or two? You know, we have seen Sachin Tendulkar and after that we are seeing someone who is equally special. So, where is the where is the yardstick for you know judging someone like him?

[00:00:22]>> [music] >> ESPN Cricinfo Runorder is back and when Runorder is back it means there's a story in the game that deserves putting the group and the gang back together.

[00:00:35]So, I put them all on this couch because they were with us for the IPL anyway.

[00:00:39]So, we might as well make the most of their time and should they make the most of this generational talent we're witnessing. So, big welcome to Aaron Finch, Rayudu, GS is here and since we're going to discuss a debut, let's give Ashwin one as well. Ashwin, this is your debut. Good to have you. You've come with a laptop which means you better come with something prepared.

[00:00:56]>> Something prepared, yes. But generally whenever somebody debuts in a cricket team they give a speech for about 10 seconds. You need to Really? Yeah, you you need to tell us your feelings. Well, I would ready ready for this debut for sure. I think the the topic is about discussing about if someone's ready for a debut. I certainly wasn't ready. Last evening suddenly producer calls me and tells me will you do Runorder? I'm like do I I think You're not boring us here.

[00:01:18]You guys you guys all professional. Great selection stories start like this when you least expect it you get a call from the selector and says this one is injured or this one's happening we're picking you tomorrow. Did you have such a story for yourself? Not really. No.

[00:01:32]No, I've had one. You've had one? Yeah.

[00:01:34]Tell all. Yeah, you know, I've come back from ICL. I was not being selected for a couple of years and suddenly I get a call from Sandeep Patil saying that you know, we are picking you. I was like really?

[00:01:48]>> [laughter] >> It's been almost a decade since I've played for India A and then suddenly getting a call. It was quite special.

[00:01:54]I'm sure yours is too.

[00:01:56]>> Yes, yes. GS, I'm going to rely on you for some wisdom because we are all set on Runorder. By the way, Runorder is where we go unhinged with our opinions.

[00:02:04]So, Rayudu should feel just at home. So should you Aaron Finch, I'd like to think. But the big question now and now we can build it up. Today of the day of recording this April 18th, the IPL's birthday, the official age of Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the wonder boy is 15 years 22 days. The great Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar debuted for India at 16 years 205 days. That's the record in the men's game. Shafali Verma more recently for India in the women's game at 15 years to 83. So, is it time to hand Vaibhav Suryavanshi an India cap? Is he ready for an international debut? Is the hot topic for this afternoon. Let's immediate responses from Finchy and Rayudu first. So, you want an unhinged response? Yes. There have been so many cricketers who are never ready to play for India who have actually donned the Indian colors for whatever reasons.

[00:02:53]>> [laughter] >> So, I'm sure this boy is ready. Give him one.

[00:02:57]Wow, that's amazing. So, you you feel he's ready already now?

[00:03:02]Ready to take out and Yeah, just go for it. Throw him into international cricket. How I mean, what sort of a harm can that do? Maybe if he if he fails he'll come back after a couple of years.

[00:03:13]He's still 17. Doesn't matter.

[00:03:16]Finchy. I have a different opinion on it. What we're saying at the moment is a a free-wheeling kid, somebody who has there's a lot of expectation now but he also has the ignorance of youth on his side. So, he won't be carrying any mental baggage one game to another, technical problems or he hasn't played long enough for a bowler to get the wood over him. So, I I just think that just let him keep playing, let him enjoy it for a little while.

[00:03:39]Although IPL is well and truly the spotlight, playing cricket for India is a totally different story. So, for me I wouldn't be against him being on a tour and you say come with us, youngster.

[00:03:50]Someone take him under under their wing and say this is what international cricket's all about. So, you can be a part of the squad, you can be training with with the legends of the game and just sort of work your way into it that way.

[00:04:01]>> So, we don't do that in India though.

[00:04:03]Either your name is in the squad or you're not in the squad. Like I know other countries do it. Indian domestic cricket is a different ball game, Finchy. There there are people who are waiting for you to fail to bring you down. So, I don't want this kid to go there yet. I want him to you know, be at a level where he's playing for India or he's at the NCA training, maybe in the India A camps. I don't want him really going into that circuit of Indian domestic cricket yet. He can play a lot of red ball cricket but he can play for India A. I mean, there's enough red ball cricket for India A. But is that realistic?

[00:04:35]>> At this age at this age But he's playing for Bihar already. No, he's playing he's not played much for Bihar.

[00:04:40]>> he's played so I I have a laptop so I have some numbers. He's played eight first class games. He's played for Bihar. He's he's not had a I mean a breakout Ranji yet. He's played I think one Ranji season. He's played eight first class games and he's not really gone through the rigors yet of domestic cricket. And you were mentioning about coaches being brutal with these guys, right? But isn't Vaibhav Suryavanshi going to be an exception because he's rubbed shoulders with international players two seasons. So, will coaches approach him differently than they would somebody who's completely different?

[00:05:08]>> so because I've we all have gone through that grind and specially at a young age.

[00:05:12]I've gone through that grind. I've made my first class debut at 16. I know what kind of people you need to deal with at that age. So, I don't I I don't recommend that because there is such a good infrastructure right now in terms of developing cricketers in India and BCCI has done a fantastic job of it. So, why not why not just make him play at a level where you have good coaches who can guide him, who can build him up. Maybe don't give him an India cap but make him play India A all throughout the year. GS, why are we talking about Suryavanshi so strongly?

[00:05:45]So, obviously one is he's special and he's able to hit the best of the bowlers in the IPL comfortably. Your Bumrahs and your Hazelwoods and that shows that the quality of the IPL is as much as the as good as the international tournament.

[00:05:57]I'm sure you guys will agree maybe a slightly a notch lesser maybe but if he's able to do well here then he's obviously the the odds of success are much higher and this is not just a flash in the pan. Wherever he's gone, we saw him do the under-19 World Cup he scored something like 175. He seems to be a level above than a lot of others. I'm sure he'll see a lot of failures. In India today, we have an advantage. The advantage is that the next cycle the focus is going to be on the ODI side, the ODI World Cup side and the T20 World Cup's happening 2 years from now in Australia. So, if I'm building for that side I totally am with Finchy the fact that you have to first give your chance to the guys who are doing well now. But having said that because we have a lot of sister tours in the sense that when the Indian senior team you have a tour against Ireland, you have a tour against Afghanistan where they play T20.

[00:06:45]>> confirmed one against Zimbabwe in July.

[00:06:46]>> Yeah, so the fact is these tours are tours which is going to help you select that one or two players for the 2028 World Cup. He can go play in Ireland, he can play in Zimbabwe and we'll see how he does well in those conditions. It's a good opportunity for India to leverage it. So, in 2024 when India sent a team just after the World Cup, Abhishek Sharma debuted in that series. Now, he may not have been the plan for 2026.

[00:07:09]There was Jaiswal, there were Shubman Gill. Now, these were players who were reserves and in the squad for the 2024 side but India found a player there and decided he gets in. Now, I'm trying to understand what should be the right way to be fair to the Abhishek Sharmas and the Sanju Samsons and Jaiswal who's still waiting, next in line you'd think.

[00:07:29]I understand that and and I I'm saying take him on tours. Don't don't necessarily say you're coming on the tour you're playing.

[00:07:38]Just train with the players with with these guys. Be around what it's like to be mentally involved with the Indian cricket team. And I have another point here. So, talent is not a question. We know that he's talented.

[00:07:49]>> But does he have the other word which begins from T which is temperament, right? So, does he have restraint? Does he has he shown game awareness? I feel that you know, throw him in there.

[00:08:00]You know, give him a go because he this kid's special. Why are you stopping something that we have not seen for over a decade or two? You know, we have seen Sachin Tendulkar and after that we are seeing someone who is equally special.

[00:08:13]So, where is the where is the yardstick for you know, judging someone like him?

[00:08:17]>> I'm just uh curious. So, tell me your thoughts. If he was 20, would it make the case stronger? Then okay, he's 20. This is when people usually debut. But he's 15. He's 15.

[00:08:27]There's something about him being 15 which is why for the kid no, let the kid grow up. It's like you know, the same the equivalent of sending him out of the house too late. If he was 20 it's easier. If he's 15 you're a little bit more worried.

[00:08:37]>> Yeah. So, you're just trying to think that he's 15.

[00:08:40]>> and how how can you predict the future you tell me?

[00:08:42]How do you see him being better in 4 years if he has not played for India today? That is my question.

[00:08:47]>> So, let me go the other way around here.

[00:08:49]All selection is in a way educated guesswork. You there is more hope than there is certainty. Great players in form may or may not play or whatever.

[00:08:58]What is uh what will his selection do to a lot of other players? If you are in the administration and Finchy's point starts there, right? You played already had conversations with maybe Jaiswal. This is why we can't get you into the team.

[00:09:12]Now, if Abhishek Sharma is injured, he's the next opener. If Samson is injured maybe Kishan or whatever. You've had those conversations. They may change over time but you've had those conversations. If you put Suryavanshi there, what happens to a lot of other players? Indian selectors are so smart they never have conversations.

[00:09:27]>> [laughter] >> Nothing on the record. Nothing on the record. So, nobody comes out and says okay, you have told me this. I would like to believe smart for many years. I would like to believe that this set of selectors if they have not had conversations they watch this show now and now they better have conversations. I would love to see him do well because he looks like such a sweet kid but about these guys that are probably in the pecking order at the moment. It's not like they're 30 year olds and it's and you go and well, by the time they get their chance will they be on the other The of it? Will they be too old? These are still young kids themselves. So, I I don't think that it's so necessary to throw a really young kid in because you've still got the future planning. You've you're still future-proofed this Indian cricket team because your your superstars and your next rung of players are all in their early 20s. So, it's not it's not tipping over the edge to a team that that is is about to is about to transition out.

[00:10:23]>> [laughter] >> Say he does get in. Say he does play the Ireland tour in June, right? It's literally 1 month after the IPL. As a former international T20 captain yourself, how do you approach a young talented 15-year-old who's opening for your country? Like, what do you How do you Do you take him under your wing or you just let him be and just let him learn like on the go? Like, without overwhelming him. Yeah, you just let him go. I think you you say, "You know what?

[00:10:47]You've earned this. Go and have some fun. Play your exact way. Don't change for anybody just because it's international cricket doesn't mean you have to play any different." What I've seen a lot in cricket and and it happens all over the world and and no doubt it happens here is that when there's a young talent, people want to attach themselves to them and they want to make changes. So, so next time somebody notices a change and they get a hundred, uh somebody stands up and they say, "Yeah, I did that."

[00:11:12]I I told him to do that. They want all the the praise and the pat on the back.

[00:11:15]So, that's where I think you can interfere too much with a youngster.

[00:11:18]Just say just go. Just just let it go.

[00:11:21]Have fun. Try and smack it.

[00:11:23]I think uh you know, I can relate my career just a little bit to what's happening with him right now because I was I was quite young.

[00:11:31]Uh I was 16. At 17, I made my India A debut. I've had two good series, one in West Indies, one in England.

[00:11:38]And from then on to make my debut because I missed a Bangladesh tour there. They have taken a relatively young side to Bangladesh. They said, "This guy is young. You know, he still has enough time so he can always ease him in." And it took me 11 years to make my international debut. See, I'm not saying uh he is he's 10 times as I was when I was at that age. So, I think he deserves an opportunity way more than I deserved back then. So, I think I think you know, things might go you know, haywire if you just let a kid in that you know, dwell in that system for too long. Cool. Brilliant. That was lovely. And once again, I do I thank you for sharing the difficult times of your career and and seeing how you know, you don't want this kid face in that kind of struggle. And we all want him to do well. So, we wrap it up. There are five selectors and there are five of us over here. So, let's take a vote right now on whether you'd pick him for India the next time of asking.

[00:12:33]I would take him in the squad but not necessarily written on the first team sheet.

[00:12:37]>> Well, once he's in the squad, he's an injury or another illness away from a cap. So, that's he's not going to displace Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson at the top.

[00:12:46]>> what I'm saying. But yes, he's in the squad. Take him with you. Yeah. All right. Finchy has a yes.

[00:12:50]>> And a guardian still. South zone. No, he'll be with uh Uh he'll be in my squad as a 16th player. And whenever there's an India A tour, he'll go and play that but come back to the squad. Nice. Okay, but then if a cap happens to come his way through that it will come. It comes.

[00:13:06]So, that's a yes I would say as well.

[00:13:08]I'll give you central zone. Central zone. Yeah, you're in the center. I played for central as well. Mhm. If he's West, I played for >> He's your selector. Give him one.

[00:13:17]>> [laughter] >> I wouldn't uh team play him straight away in the in the next uh India's T20 uh what's his Ireland? He wouldn't be in my 11 but yes, be in the squad just so that he can >> Anyway, you pick squads only. Selectors don't pick 11s. That Agarkar has made very clear. We pick the squads. 11s are team management that is captain and coach. Anyway, you're saying yes as well. G stats, you can be Oh, forget it.

[00:13:39]Whatever you are, you've given your answer also. You'll be East zone I was going to say Cuz I am West zone. I'm from the West.

[00:13:45]You're the chairman. You have to make the decision. I am the chairman and I say that uh we wait. We wait. Yeah. Now, let's see whether how this translates. I I I think I I I think the convener has to vote now.

[00:13:58]Whoever [laughter] that is. No, no. I'm saying we simply I'm saying simply that we wait that if there is a T20I series, it will continue to be the team that has won the World Cup. Yeah. We'll continue to play. If there is an injury, I would want Jaiswal in that team. And of course, you pick spot for spot. I still believe Jaiswal has a lot to offer and could very well be India's opener if Abhishek falls short of form. And then I'll have Suryavanshi. So, he's my number three over there. That's my only logic. Thank you very much. Rayudu, Finchy, Ashwin, very good debut.

[00:14:26]>> mate.

[00:14:27]>> Well done. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Promising 15-year-old.

[00:14:30]>> [laughter] >> Yeah. G stats, lovely. This was ESPNcricinfo Ranveer share your views as well on whether you think it's time for Suryavanshi in India colors. Yeah.

[00:14:40]>> [music]