Shreyas Iyer Shuts Down Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Debut Talks Ahead of 1st India vs England T20I: "Very Private"
After a series loss against Ireland, the main question for India ahead of the England series is quite natural: will there be changes in the batting line-up? Or more specifically, will Vaibhav Sooryvanshi make a debut?
- India will play a five-match T20I series against England starting July 1
- Captain Shreyas Iyer declined to confirm if Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will debut
- "Our hands are also tied at the moment in terms of what we are going to do. This is very private," Iyer said
After a series loss against Ireland, the main question for India ahead of the England series is quite natural: will there be changes in the batting line-up? Or more specifically, will Vaibhav Sooryavanshi make a debut? After a 34-run loss in the first T20I against Ireland, India fell short by one run in the second T20I. In the two T20Is, Sanju Samson scored 5 and 0, while his fellow opener Abhishek Sharma returned scores of 49 and 0. The turnaround time for India is very short. Starting from July 1, India will play a five-match T20I series against England.
Ahead of the first T20I, a reporter asked Iyer: "How difficult is it as a captain to decide on a player who has so many runs and is sitting on the bench? How difficult is it for the management to make the decision on when to give him the opportunity?"
"All individuals who are in the team have performed. It's not like only one individual has performed. We have to build security and provide opportunities for every individual so that everybody is confident going forward into the tournaments. The people who won India the T20 World Cup know the format; they have been the main pillars. So, it's important to back them," Shreyas Iyer replied.
It's not that only one individual(vaibhav sooryavanshi)has perform others have performed too nd it's imp to back them for providing security to players nd they're main pillars and part of wc winning team. it's ok but how will u justify ur own selection,u weren't even in the team pic.twitter.com/tw7juoGyCz
— 🧑🏻🦯 (@kadaipaneer_) June 30, 2026
India's new T20I captain refused to offer any insight into the team's plans. When asked specifically if Sooryavanshi was going to make his debut on Wednesday, Iyer again refused to divulge any information.
"You never know what is going to happen. Our hands are also tied at the moment in terms of what we are going to do. This is very private," Iyer was quoted as saying by PTI.
"This is something that we discuss within the team. We can't let everyone know what combination we are going to play and let the opponents know what is going to happen. He is a prodigy, and whenever he gets an opportunity to play, he will definitely do a brilliant job."
The India captain denied coming across any demands from the outside regarding giving Sooryavanshi a debut. "I am not seeing anything as such. Really, I don't know. Neither do I follow the news, nor do I follow what is going on on social media. I have not heard anything," he said.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team