When Ireland host India in Belfast on Friday, all eyes will be on a child prodigy who is the focus of unprecedented excitement in the world’s biggest cricket nationVaibhav Sooryavanshi is set to become India's youngest ever player when he takes the field against Ireland in Belfast on Friday. Photograph: Ashley Allen-ICC/ICC via Getty Images Thu Jun 25 2026 - 15:38 • 4 MIN READWhere were you when you were 15? The answer to this question, and the reason for its asking, rarely fills us with joy. Most of us were either doing the Junior Cert or in transition year. Blagging through exams someone else said were important or finding an excuse to doss around. Work experience, I believe we called it.On Friday, India have a 15-year-old doing actual, real-life sporting work. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is set to become India’s youngest player. Ireland are his first opponent, Stormont the stage. Given the popularity of cricket in south Asia, this international debut will be one of the most-watched sporting moments this year. Cricket in Ireland rarely achieves significant cultural cut-through these days, largely because the famous World Cup giant-killings of yesteryear are fading into the distance. When the world’s biggest cricket nation comes to town, that can change. Yet the novelty effect of India’s visits has gone, as the current T20 world champions have been on these shores three times in the last five years. Add in the fact that Ireland are missing a heap of senior players through injury – Paul Stirling, Mark Adair, Josh Little, Curtis Campher and Barry McCarthy are all out of action – and these games are unlikely to be interesting from a competitive viewpoint. T20 isn’t much of a focus for Ireland either, given the biggest task of the next 12 months is to reach next year’s 50-over World Cup. These two matches risked flying under the radar. Indian TV money is helpful to pay for the rest of the summer’s fixtures but finding a sporting reason to say this weekend mattered was a tall order. Then India decided to pick the child. Someone who has to travel on tour with his parents and use a separate changing room to his team-mates. Born in 2011 (I know, stop ...), Sooryavanshi has existed purely in the golden era of T20 and the Indian Premier League. Not to mention the social-media age. For those not glued to the lower levels of the Indian domestic scene, Sooryavanshi was thrust into prominence by a clip of a six flying over the rope. Aged just 14, he became the youngest men’s T20 centurion in last year’s IPL, bringing up the milestone in style. It wasn’t a fluke. Twelve months on, he broke the record for the most sixes hit in one IPL campaign. The man whose mark he surpassed? Chris Gayle, the Jamaican largely seen as the game’s best ever power bat. Beaten by a child. Add to that this year’s IPL MVP award and India had to hand him a first international call-up. Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring a century for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur, India, in April 2025. Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images Ireland happen to the first contender to have a stab at avoiding teenage humiliation. Such is the level of attention surrounding Sooryavanshi that, by process of association, his first ball will be the most watched Irish sporting moment for some time. “Those who don’t watch cricket, everyone thought there was cricket overkill with the T20 World Cup in February followed by the recent IPL,” says Venkata Krishna, journalist for the Indian Express. “But everyone tuned in to watch him. “Even last week, India A, the second string, were playing. Everyone tuned in to watch because Sooryavanshi made his 50-over debut. “I grew up in the era of Sachin Tendulkar but nobody has had this hype. Even among the households, elder people want to see how this young boy is doing well in cricket. That’s the talk in the Indian public. The entire thing about him is his age.”You don’t need to be a cricket fan to recognise the name Tendulkar. Sooryavanshi is set to break his record for India’s youngest player. In this era of the glitzy IPL dominating algorithms, few sporting debuts rival this level of hype. It is worth mentioning that Sooryavanshi’s age has been questioned. In 2023, he gave an interview that suggested he was actually about 18 months older than we’d been told. His father rebutted such talk, saying bone tests had verified his age. In any case, this isn’t a 25-year-old masquerading as 15. Sooryavanshi’s baby face gives up the game that, whatever you believe, he is absurdly young to be this good. Irish players would be forgiven for being sick of questions about the teen sensation. When asked by the BBC recently, opener Ross Adair gave a look that said something along the lines of, “Would ye stop”. Lorcan Tucker, who has been named as the new Irish T20 captain – an achievement that has been dramatically overshadowed by Vaibhav fever – was a touch more diplomatic. “I didn’t think that [playing so young] was going to be possible in this professional era,” he said. “Credit to him and he’s a special player.”Little old Ireland may well end up being a footnote in this story. While perhaps unfortunate on the pitch if Sooryavanshi fires to the extent feared possible, this country could nonetheless count itself lucky to be the starting point of a long, heralded career. IN THIS SECTION