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NEW DELHI: The BCCI has decided to allow teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s parents to accompany him on the upcoming tours of Ireland and England, with the board set to bear all expenses in a bid to help the 15-year-old adjust to life in the senior Indian team.BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the move was aimed at ensuring that the youngster remains comfortable as he transitions from age-group cricket to the demands of international cricket. “As he is a child, we have decided to allow his parents to accompany him to Ireland and England, so that they can be with him and help him settle in the new environment. The Board will cover all their expenses,” Saikia told Sportstar.The teenage batting prodigy earned his maiden India call-up for the T20I series in Ireland and England and the Asian Games after a record-breaking IPL 2026 campaign in which he amassed 776 runs for Rajasthan Royals.
BCCI keen to ease teenager’s transition
Saikia revealed that Sooryavanshi’s father, Sanjeev, had already travelled to Sri Lanka to join his son, who is currently with the India A side for the tri-series in Dambulla.“Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s father is arriving today in Sri Lanka and we’ll offer him that if he wants to go to the UK and Ireland also, we’ll do that. Vaibhav was selected for India A team a few days ago and soon he will be a part of the India senior men’s team.“So to make him comfortable with the new environment, especially with him being a child, we have made arrangements for his father to go to Sri Lanka and be with his son so that he gets used to being in the new situation,” Saikia told IANS.The BCCI secretary stressed that the board’s primary responsibility was to ensure that the youngster did not feel isolated in unfamiliar surroundings.“Yesterday he was also selected for the UK and Ireland T20I tours. So we’ll make the offer that if the parents or the father wants to go there, we’ll make that arrangement also. This is basically for making the child comfortable in a senior men’s team and that is the basic thing behind it,” he said.“It’s because otherwise he was always traveling with his under-19, junior boys or sub-junior boys team. It meant that he was in the comfort zone. But now he will be in the adult world and we want to make him comfortable, as he is a 15-year-old kid. Definitely with his parents around, he’ll be more comfortable. Subject to his satisfaction and convenience, we are doing it,” he added.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
A responsibility beyond cricket
Saikia said the board had a duty to ensure that young players were not overwhelmed by the challenges of a new environment.“See, we have some responsibility on us – that nobody should feel uncomfortable or alien in a new environment. That is our basic principle so that he adjusts gradually to being in the senior team,” he said.Sooryavanshi’s rapid rise has been nothing short of extraordinary. After starring in India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph, he dominated IPL 2026, finishing as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 776 runs, including a century and five fifties.He also swept multiple individual honours, claiming the Orange Cap, Emerging Player award, Most Valuable Player award, best strike rate and the record for most sixes in a single IPL season.Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said the youngster had effectively “picked himself” through his performances.“We’ve got high hopes of him, and I think he just has picked himself really,” Agarkar had said.
