At 15, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to make his debut for India in the T20 defeat to England at Old Trafford.
Published July 5, 2026
Jacob Bethel helped England claim a four-wicket win in the second Twenty20 in Manchester on Saturday, spoiling the international debut of Indian teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Sooryavanshi, 15 years and 99 days old, dethroned Sachin Tendulkar as his country’s youngest male player, scoring 14 runs off 10 balls and marking the record-breaking occasion with two stunning sixes.
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However, it was 22-year-old Bethel, a relative veteran, who contributed to the victory at Old Trafford.
With England chasing 191 runs for victory, he came back at 51-3 and scored a perfectly paced 76 not out to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Bethel pressed the button in the match-changing 17th over, hitting two free hits for six after Ravi Bishnoi backfooted him for a no-ball, leaking 29 runs and putting England in the lead.
Bethel hit five fours and five sixes during his 46-ball stay, finishing alongside Jofra Archer as England cruised to a four-wicket victory with an over to spare.
Sooryavanshi, who replaced Sanju Samson as the opening batsman, appeared in front of a mostly Indian crowd in Manchester and an evening prime-time television audience in Mumbai.
His first opponent will be fellow T20 debutant Josh Tan, who is 13 years older but has played 13 fewer T20s. Sooryavanshi missed the first two balls and missed the mark with a rough inside edge over the off-stump.
There, he faced off against his Rajasthan Royals teammate Archer, and he made a statement by bending low and delivering six spectacular strokes high over his left shoulder in a spiral. He got his groove back on the seventh delivery, firing wide long-on to Tan into the stands.
There was no real spin and the field moved up so Will Jacks beat the youngster. Sooryavanshi, charging down the course, lost his balance as he tried to hit a flat club with his foot off his pad, easily tripping Jos Buttler.
While Suryavanshi was putting on a show, Abhishek Sharma was busy smashing the bulk of his 50-run stand. In a match that was almost a replay of the previous match in Durham, Sharma was starting to look untouchable when the introduction of Sam Curran forced a mistake, but a low full toss was sent straight to deep midwicket, leaving Sharma short for 43.
Curran picked up two more wickets, the dangerous Ishan Kishan took 49 wickets and Shivam Dube took five, and could have improved on their figures of 3-33 had Archer’s attempted catch from Tilak Verma not been ruled out.
England’s innings quickly broke from the stalemate, with Arshdeep Singh getting opener Phil Salt and Jos Buttler caught for a duck in the first over of the chase.
Harry Brook mounted a fierce counterattack worth 39 points on 15 pitches. His salvo included four consecutive fours and three powerful sixes that knocked Singh to the ground.
Needing 49 off 24 balls as the game drew to a close, England remained second favorites until Bishnoi collapsed and Bethel brutally prevailed in the 17th over.
