Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, T20 IPL batting prodigy, receives first India jersey

Fifteen-year-old cricket sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has donned his first official India jersey and says he has long dreamed of the moment.

Sooryavanshi was named in India’s T20 squad for the tours to Ireland and England as well as the Asian Games after sweeping the batting honours in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). Sooryavanshi could make his debut for India in Friday’s first T20 match against Ireland in Belfast.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India released a video of the moment on Tuesday when the blue jersey was delivered to Sooryavanshi, calling it “the moment the nation has been waiting for”.

“Ever since I first held a bat and walked onto a cricket field to practise, I dreamed of this moment. … I cannot explain this feeling in words,” Sooryavanshi said in the BCCI video.

He was shown unpacking the shirt with his name on the back above the number 03.

Sooryavanshi is in line to become India’s youngest international player, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar, the batting great who made his Test debut aged 16 years and 205 days in 1989.

The spotlight has been on Sooryavanshi since his batting exploits in the IPL, where he amassed 776 runs for the Rajasthan Royals to finish as the tournament’s leading run scorer.

He struck one century and five half-centuries during the season to pick up the Orange Cap for the leading run getter.