AB de Villiers Endorses Historic Call-Up of 15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to India’s National Cricket Side]

AB de Villiers Endorses Historic Call-Up of 15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to India’s National Cricket Side]

NEW DELHI: South African cricket icon AB de Villiers has lent his support to India’s decision to hand 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his maiden international call-up, calling it both the “right call” and a “brave decision” by the selectors.

Sooryavanshi made history on Saturday when he was named in India’s squads for the tours of Ireland and England, as well as the Asian Games. At 15, he becomes the youngest player ever selected for the Indian national team, surpassing the record previously held by a teenage Sachin Tendulkar in 1989.

Speaking at a Mumbai event, de Villiers praised the selectors for choosing youth over experience.

“It’s definitely the right call from the selectors. So well done to them for making the brave decision. It would have been easy to say that he’s still too young and he’s not ready, and go for more experience. He’s broken down that door, and he deserves his place in the Indian T20 team, so I’m happy for him,” the former South African captain remarked.

‘No doubt Sooryavanshi’s got the talent’

While de Villiers stopped short of predicting Sooryavanshi’s trajectory in Test cricket, he expressed confidence in the young batsman’s ability to succeed across all formats if he chooses to pursue them.

“Yeah, he’s a wonderful talent. The red-ball thing I absolutely cannot answer. I think he can if he wants to, but there’s your answer, and there’s the big question as well is does he really want to? Time will tell. There’s no doubt he’s got the talent and the ability to do so. It won’t always be easy, and I’ve mentioned that a few times before,” de Villiers said.

The batting legend acknowledged that Test cricket presents unique challenges but remains optimistic about Sooryavanshi’s potential to overcome them.

“If he decides to play red-ball cricket, there will be some challenges, but he’s got the skill and the ability to work through that and in my opinion, I hope he does try and play Test cricket, but we’ll see in future,” he added.

Sooryavanshi’s rise has been meteoric. The Rajasthan Royals opener dominated the IPL 2026 season with 776 runs at an extraordinary strike rate of 237.30, including a record 72 sixes.

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