India have dropped Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from their playing 11 for the fifth T20I against England, bringing back Sanju Samson. The 15-year-old left-hander had failed to go past 15 runs in his first three matches.
Shreyas Iyer at the toss confirmed it was a tactical call and not related to Sooryavanshi’s fitness or any injury concerns.
“I feel this is the time we need to try what’s best going forward for us as a team. So based on that, we decided this,” the skipper said.
Sooryavanshi made his debut in the second T20I of the series, replacing Samson, who was on a streak of three single-digit scores. He became the youngest player to ever feature in an international for India.
The teenager showed glimpses of his talent in all three matches, scoring five
sixes and batting at a strike-rate of 168. But he was outdone by off-spinner Will Jacks on debut before Jofra Archer troubled him with bouncers in back-to-back games.
The decision would come as a shock to Sooryavanshi
On the broadcast, both Sunil Gavaskar and Graeme Swann expressed shock at India’s decision. Gavaskar spotted Sooryavanshi walking around the ground dejected, saying he thought it was a given that the youngster would be given another chance because he deserved it. Swann, on the other hand, rejected it altogether, saying the Rajasthan Royals opener was the ‘victim’ of the team’s poor performance.
The fact that the team has dropped Sooryavanshi, who was at least attempting to play the format in the right way, before several other out-of-form players (like Tilak Varma) suggests that Gautam Gambhir still doesn’t trust his abilities. In any other country, his 776 runs in IPL 2026 and an overall aggressive style would have naturally granted him more time to prove himself.
In either case, Sooryavanshi would be back in India’s team for the series against Zimbabwe later this month.
India’s playing 11 without Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Suryansh Shedge also made his debut in place of Washington Sundar.
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav and Prasidh Krishna
