'He will have to deliver almost immediately' - Sunil Gavaskar on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's long-awaited debut

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has opined that there would be extra pressure on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to perform on his debut amid the T20I series in England.

Sooryavanshi has taken the cricketing world by storm at the age of 15 and has proven time and again that he can not just hang with but take on and decimate the experienced names. After shattering records in the 2026 IPL season, the young southpaw became the youngest player ever to be called up to a senior India squad and has been expected to make his debut in the series against Ireland and England.

With the Ireland series done and dusted, and the first T20I of the England series ending in a washout, clamours for the young star's debut have been fervent. The team management, however, has chosen to stick with the combination which won India the T20 World Cup earlier in the year.

Gavaskar has stated that the longer these talks go on, the more pressure they would put on the youngster to perform when he makes his debut. Although, the veteran Indian batter also praised the team environment for making him feel welcome and providing the opportunity to learn from the experienced players in the dressing room.

"It will put him [Sooryavanshi] under more pressure whenever he gets an opportunity. But at 15 years of age, you don't think too much about pressure. He knows that if he gets the opportunity in the second or third game, he will have to deliver almost immediately. That's there. But he is happy to be around. This Indian team is full of lovely, tremendous players, and it is just fantastic for him to be learning from them," Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.

The first T20I between England and India was washed out without a possible result. Batting first, the team in blue were dented early, finding themselves at 6 for 2 in the first two overs. They did well to recover from there to post a total of 189 for 7 in their 20 overs. Abhishek Sharma scored a blistering 59 off just 24 balls, with captain Shreyash Iyer notching up a well-made 68 off 47 balls, and Shivam Dube added the finishing touches with a 21-ball 42. For the Three Lions, Saqib Mahmood was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 33.

Drizzle, which persisted throughout a major portion of India's innings, got heavier ahead of England's batting innings, which saw the game called off. The second T20I is set to be played at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday, July 4.