Ireland plan to ‘spoil party’ for India's teen phenom

Lorcan Tucker hopes Ireland can spoil teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's potential India debut

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of India Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images 

Lorcan Tucker hopes Ireland can “spoil the party” if teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi makes his India debut in this week’s two-match T20 series in Belfast.

The 15-year-old, who will have a separate changing facility to his team-mates for safeguarding reasons, is set to become India’s youngest international cricketer ever if he plays on Friday or Sunday.

He could break apart this year’s T20 World Cup-winning opening pairing of Abishek Sharma and Sanju Samson following a stellar Indian Premier League, with 776 in 16 innings at a strike rate of 237.30.

Last week, Sooryavanshi belted the fastest fifty in List A history off 11 balls for India A against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla, and an Irish side without six senior players because of injury are now in his sights.

Tucker, named Ireland’s permanent T20 captain at the start of the week, said: “It’s pretty incredible for them to have a 15-year-old in their team. I didn’t think that was ever going to be possible in this professional era.

“Credit to him, he’s a pretty special player. We’re hoping we’ll see him this week, it will be a big moment for him but it would be great to spoil that party for him.

“Most of the hype here has been about him making his debut in this series. He’s obviously an absolutely incredible talent, he blew the IPL up and we’ve tried to do as much research as we can on him.” 

Fast bowlers Josh Little, Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy, plus all-rounder Curtis Campher and batters Paul Stirling and Jordan Neill are sidelined for Ireland, with Matthew Hollard and Jai Moondra primed for their international bows.

While Tucker admitted a weakened Ireland face a tall order against the world champions, he hopes home conditions could work to their advantage.

Tucker added: “They’re one of the best T20 teams there has ever been – their performances in (this year’s) World Cup showed that.

“But all of the pressure is on them. The pitch might be a bit on the slower side than what they’re used to. Hopefully that can make a difference and we can make an early impact and stun a few people.

“We’re just trying to make an impact on the game itself and show that we’re here to play as well, we can take wickets, score runs and be competitive.”