15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi earns maiden India call-up, Suryakumar dropped

Fifteen-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has received his maiden call-up to the Indian national team, earning a place in the T20I squad for the upcoming series against Ireland and England, as well as the Asian Games in Japan. In a major shake-up, T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav has been dropped from the squad and also lost the captaincy.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced two squads on Saturday, June 6, with Shreyas Iyer named as the new T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar . Tilak Varma has been appointed as vice-captain . The decisions mark a significant change in leadership just three months after India won the T20 World Cup .

Sooryavanshi, a left-handed opener who plays for Rajasthan Royals, topped the IPL 2026 batting charts with 776 runs at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 236.58. He also won the Orange Cap and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player .

BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said the decision to drop Suryakumar was based on a combination of factors, including form. "It isn't the easiest discussion after the World Cup win," Agarkar said. "It is partly form and partly our plan, Shreyas was in the plan for us" .

Suryakumar, 35, has struggled with the bat over the past 18 months. He scored only 242 runs in nine innings at the T20 World Cup and managed just 270 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2026 at an average of 20.76 .

Sooryavanshi is set to become the youngest Indian male cricketer to debut internationally, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing record. Tendulkar played his first Test at 16 years and 205 days in 1989 .

India will play two T20Is against Ireland on June 26 and 28 in Belfast, followed by five T20Is against England from July 1 to 11. The Asian Games will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September to October .

India T20I squad for Ireland and England series: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi .

Asian Games squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi .

Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and Kuldeep Yadav have been rested or left out, while pacer Jasprit Bumrah will join the squad for the Asian Games.