Shreyas Iyer refuses to confirm Sooryavanshi’s debut; prioritises backing T20 World Cup winners

Shreyas Iyer (Pic: AFP)

Shreyas Iyer has not revealed whether teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will make his international debut in Wednesday's series opener against England. Instead, the captain emphasised the importance of supporting the core group of players who secured the T20 World Cup title just a few months ago.

The anticipation regarding the 15-year-old batting sensation has been mounting ever since his inclusion in the squads for the Ireland and England tours. However, integrating Sooryavanshi into the playing XI would likely require changing India's successful opening partnership of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.

"Look, all the players in the team have performed well; it's not that only one individual has performed well," Indian skipper Iyer told the reporters.

"But we have to build that opportunity and security, so that each individual has confidence going forward into the tournaments. The players who have won the last World Cup definitely have an idea of how to play T20, and continuously they have been the main pillars of that format, so it's very important to back them," Iyer added.

Iyer wants his team to move on from Ireland defeat

Iyer, who assumed the captaincy ahead of the preceding tour of Ireland, also reflected on India's historic series defeat to the Irish side, describing the outcome as a tough psychological blow.

"It wasn't embarrassing, but it was depressing for us, because we definitely didn't expect Ireland to play that well," Iyer said.

"They outplayed us in every department; they had brilliant ideas about the dimensions of the ground, and we fell short in terms of analysing and planning the ground and the dimensions, and how the wicket would be played," he added.

Despite the setback in Ireland, the captain viewed the experience as a vital learning curve and expressed confidence ahead of the challenging assignment against England.

"Credit to them, but we learnt a lot from that series. This is a completely new chapter for us coming in here. A couple of us have played in England before, and we know the conditions, we know the ideas, we know the dimensions over here. So, looking forward to an intense and challenging series." Iyer concluded.

(With PTI inputs)