IND vs IRE: Sunil Gavaskar angry over Vaibhav Suryavanshi not debuting, said – Ireland tour was the best opportunity

By Samira Vishwas On Jun 30, 2026

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed surprise at 15-year-old young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi not being given a chance in the T20 series against Ireland. He believes that Team India missed a great opportunity. According to Gavaskar, a series like Ireland was the best platform to introduce a young player to international cricket in a comfortable manner. Now he has advocated the inclusion of Vaibhav in the playing 11 in the next T20 series against England.

Under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, India faced a 0-2 defeat in the 2-match T20 series against Ireland. In the second match, India lost the match by just one run, whereas the first match was also lost by 34 runs. With this, Ireland created history by winning a bilateral series against India for the first time in any format.

Made a mistake by not giving Vaibhav a chance: Gavaskar
After this defeat, questions started being raised regarding team selection. Sunil Gavaskar said that he had full hope that Vaibhav Suryavanshi would be given his debut on this tour. He said, ‘I thought that Vaibhav would play both the matches. This was the best opportunity to gradually prepare him for international cricket. There are tough matches ahead against a strong team like England, so the Ireland series could have been an ideal start for them.

Gavaskar suggested that Vaibhav could have been given a chance to open with Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson in one of the matches. He believes that the way Vaibhav has shown his talent at such a young age, it cannot be ignored for long.

He said, ‘Vaibhav will definitely get a chance. Such players do not remain out of the team for long. If he doesn’t get a chance in Ireland, he should definitely be around the team in the series against England.

Vaibhav had performed well in IPL

Vaibhav Suryavanshi had attracted the attention of the cricket world by his brilliant performance in IPL 2026. Since then, there was constant talk of his debut in Team India. However, the selectors did not give him a place in the playing-11 during the Ireland tour.

Whereas, in the second match of the series, Ireland, batting first, scored 154 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. In reply, the Indian team could score only 153 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs and lost the match by one run.

For India, vice-captain Tilak Verma scored the highest score of 55 runs, while Prince Yadav hit a six on the last ball, but the team remained one run away from victory. For Ireland, Indian-origin Jai Mundra and Matt Hollard played an important role in India’s defeat by taking three wickets each.