Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s maiden India call-up at just 15 years of age has inevitably drawn comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar. The teenage batting sensation now has an opportunity to surpass Tendulkar as the youngest cricketer to represent India at the international level, underlining the scale of excitement surrounding his rise. Tendulkar himself was fast-tracked into the Indian team at the age of 16 after displaying extraordinary talent in domestic cricket. The rest, of course, became one of the greatest stories in cricket history.
While Sooryavanshi is only beginning his journey, his early achievements suggest he possesses the talent to justify the growing hype. The Rajasthan Royals star enjoyed a breakthrough IPL 2026 season, finishing as the tournament’s Orange Cap winner. In doing so, he became the youngest player ever to top the run-scoring charts in the IPL. Scoring nearly 800 runs against some of the world’s best bowlers, Sooryavanshi showcased maturity, consistency and an attacking approach that made him one of the standout performers of the season.
England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler is among those who have been impressed by the teenager’s rapid rise. Having watched Sooryavanshi closely during the IPL while representing Gujarat Titans, Buttler believes the youngster has fully earned his place in India’s squad. “15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has got a deserved call-up into an incredibly strong India side,” Jos Buttler said on the For The Love of Cricket podcast.
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He added, “So strong that they have dropped their World Cup-winning captain (Suryakumar Yadav). He was a serious, serious player. And while his form has not been at the same level as it was before, the next World Cup is in 2028, so they wanted that change. They picked Shreyas Iyer, who won it with KKR and then had a good effect on Punjab Kings. More than anything, his numbers with the bat have been brilliant.”
Buttler also revealed a fascinating conversation with Gujarat Titans assistant coach Ashish Kapoor during the IPL. As the hype around Sooryavanshi continued to grow across India, Buttler asked Kapoor whether the buzz felt similar to what surrounded Tendulkar during his teenage years.
“Ashish Kapoor, one of our assistant coaches at Gujarat, and I were talking while all the furore around Vaibhav was reaching fever pitch in India,” Jos Buttler said. “I asked him what it was like compared to Sachin because he is from that generation and grew up watching him. He said the real difference is that everyone has seen Vaibhav.”
Buttler then highlighted how modern-day exposure has accelerated the youngster’s popularity.
“He’s not played international cricket, yet he is already so famous because of social media,” Jos Buttler explained. “Everyone has watched him bat and seen what he has done in the biggest T20 tournament in the world. When Sachin was coming through, people were reading about him in newspapers. It was all whispers and stories about this extraordinary talent that you simply had to watch. Unless you were at the ground or happened to catch him live on television, you didn’t really see him. There were no highlights packages, no social media and none of the exposure players get today.”
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For Buttler, the numbers alone justify Sooryavanshi’s selection. “Vaibhav is incredibly well known already,” he said. “He was the MVP of the tournament, scored more than 700 runs at a strike rate above 200. Any player putting up those numbers gets picked. He absolutely deserves his place.”
