Former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed surprise after India left teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi out of the playing eleven for the opening T20I against Ireland despite the youngster’s impressive growth in recent months.Sooryavanshi, who recently earned his first India call-up, has been widely tipped to make his international debut in Belfast. However, India chose to retain the experienced opening combination of Saint Samson and Abhishek Sharmameaning that the 15-year-old had to wait for his opportunity.Soon after India’s playing XI was announced and before the match started, Vaughan questioned the decision on social media.“I can’t believe India didn’t pick Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.. best T20 player in the world at the moment,” Vaughan tweeted.Indian captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first, with Harshit Rana leading an impressive bowling effort. The fast bowler, returning after a four-month injury layoff, claimed 3/24 as India reduced Ireland to 36/3 in the Powerplay.Despite the early setbacks, Ireland recovered through captain Lorcan Tucker, who made a composed 50 off 36 balls. Gareth Delany then smashed 49, while George Dockrell added a quick 19 as Ireland finished with a competitive 182/9. A run of 27 by Prasidh Krishna in the over was crucial to lift the hosts to a challenging total.India’s chase never really gathered momentum. Abhishek Sharma produced a blistering 20-ball half-century, but Ireland’s disciplined pace attack kept striking at regular intervals. Debutant Jai Moondra dismissed Sanju Samson first, while Matt Hollard removed both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer to put India on their feet.With Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and the lower order unable to build meaningful partnerships, India were bowled out for 148 as Ireland sealed a historic 34-run win, their first win over India in any format.While the result sparked much discussion about India’s batting approach, Vaughan’s pre-match remarks about Sooryavanshi’s omission also attracted significant attention as the teenager continued to wait for his international debut.
