New Delhi, May 14, 2026, 23:39 IST
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is set for his debut India A selection, named for the June one-day tri-series in Sri Lanka.
- Tilak Varma takes the lead as captain for the 15-man squad; Riyan Parag will serve as vice-captain.
- India’s selectors get another chance to assess emerging white-ball talent ahead of the next senior team cycle on this tour.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday picked 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the India A lineup for the upcoming one-day tri-series in Sri Lanka, marking the first national development squad appearance for the much-hyped young batter. Tilak Varma steps in as captain, with Riyan Parag tapped to serve as vice-captain.
This squad matters — India A tours are usually the final hurdle for players eyeing a senior call-up. This time, the focus is even sharper. Selectors put their faith in IPL and top domestic youngsters, tossing them into 50-over matches in Sri Lanka. It’s a shift from the breakneck pace of franchise cricket, giving these players a dose of proper touring-team grind.
Sooryavanshi’s selection comes after a remarkable surge. The teenager has piled up 440 runs in just 11 IPL 2026 innings, Cricbuzz noted, batting at a blazing 236.56 strike rate and topping the charts with 40 sixes—no one has more this season. He first made waves during IPL 2025, blasting a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans.
India A opens their campaign in Dambulla on June 9, squaring off against Sri Lanka A. Afghanistan A is also in the mix, with all three teams playing each other twice before the June 21 final, where the top two will fight it out for the title.
The BCCI confirmed that after the limited-overs series, two multi-day games versus Sri Lanka A are on the schedule in Galle. A separate red-ball squad—details yet to come—will be named ahead of those matches. Multi-day games stretch across several innings, offering a format that more closely mirrors first-class cricket than the one-day version.
Priyansh Arya, Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj, and Arshad Khan have all been named in Varma’s lineup. Both Prabhsimran and Kushagra will handle wicketkeeping duties.
The competition is obvious here. It’s not just Sooryavanshi in the spotlight—Priyansh Arya and Suryansh Shedge have landed in the squad too, all under the same microscope. Parag steps in as deputy, another chance for him to show his leadership chops behind Varma.
Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of Lucknow Super Giants, offered his thoughts on the squad reveal, noting that “the country has been watching with awe” as Sooryavanshi made the leap from his IPL debut just last year to youth cricket milestones and, now, a spot with India A. Goenka also sent his congratulations to Ayush Badoni, another LSG selection. The Times of India
Praise for Sooryavanshi isn’t just coming from team owners. South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, in comments to PTI, described Sooryavanshi as “a great talent” with “really fast hands,” adding, after seeing him take on IPL’s top bowlers, that there’s “not an ounce of fear in his body.” The Times of India
Still, there’s a catch. Speaking on the Sportstar Insight Edge Podcast, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar questioned whether Sooryavanshi’s IPL Impact Player role gives a full picture of his fielding and overall match sharpness, arguing that international cricket asks for much more than just hitting with the bat.
The catch: a call-up to India A isn’t the same as a full India cap, and a standout IPL run doesn’t answer everything—workload, fielding, building an innings, or how a 15-year-old copes with touring stress. The Sri Lanka fixtures might help selectors add to their files, but they won’t clinch the debate.
At this stage, Sooryavanshi has a less cluttered route ahead. India’s selectors brought him in soon, though not fully committed—perhaps that’s intentional.
