Teen cricket sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will reportedly be required to use his own changeroom during India’s white-ball tour of Ireland and England.
Sooryavanshi was named in India’s T20 squad for the United Kingdom tour, as well as the Asian Games, after sweeping the batting honours in this year’s Indian Premier League.
The 15-year-old will become India’s youngest international men’s cricketer if he’s selected for Friday’s T20 series opener in Belfast, following which the reigning world champions will be play five matches against England, commencing at Durham’s Riverside Ground on Wednesday.
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The legendary Sachin Tendulkar holds the current record, having made his Test debut aged 16 years and 205 days in 1989. Meanwhile, Sooryavanshi could also become the youngest international cricketer to play for a full-member nation since 1996, when a 14-year-old Hasan Raza made his ODI debut for Pakistan.
As first reported by The Guardian, Sooryavanshi will need his own changing facility due safeguarding procedures from the ICC and ECB, with both governing bodies prohibiting athletes aged under 16 to enter adult changing rooms. The teenage opener will therefore have his own facilities across the tour, during which his parents are expected to accompany him.
However, he will be permitted into India’s dressing room during matches and team talks.
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15yo Vaibhav’s INSANE 97(29) | 02:05
“This is an ICC event, with their safeguarding procedures active as they have jurisdiction,” the ECB said in a statement provided to The Guardian.
“A safeguarding concern occurring during the event may (in some circumstances) be managed by the ICC. In addition to this, the ECB Safe Hands policy applies at all times.
“The Cricket Regulator is in contact with the team liaison officer for the Indian team to discuss requirements and expectations for the player while he is in the UK.
“Each county safeguarding officer for the relevant cricket venue is also working closely with the team liaison officer to ensure venue protocols and arrangements (specifically changing room environments) are understood and adhered to. This is conducted via safeguarding risk assessments.
“It is our understanding that the player’s parents will be travelling with him at all times. They are staying in the same hotel, which is outside of usual protocol, but agreed on this occasion due to his age.
“This additional measure provides us with further confidence that he has family members that can provide the additional level of support and care.”
Arsenal’s Max Dowman similarly needed a separate changing room from his teammates during last season’s Premier League, until he turned 16 in December.
Sooryavanshi donned his official India jersey for the first time on Tuesday, with the BCCI releasing a video of the moment when the blue kit was delivered to him, 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 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 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.