Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did not feature in the fifth and final T20I of the series against England. After a modest start to his international career, the 15‑year‑old was omitted from the Rose Bowl match and was captured in tears at the conclusion of play on Saturday, July 11. A clip showing his emotional reaction quickly went viral as England secured a 4‑0 victory.
He made his T20I debut in the second match of the series in Manchester, scoring only 14 runs before being dismissed. Subsequent innings yielded 13 runs in Nottingham and 15 in his third T20I appearance in Bristol. Consequently, selectors removed him from the lineup, recalling the seasoned batsman Sanju Samson.
At the close of the fifth T20I, as teammates exchanged handshakes and returned to the dressing room, Sooryavanshi was observed seated in the dugout, visibly distraught. Online commentary indicated that he was upset over his omission, while others suggested he was disappointed by the team’s disjointed performance.
Look at the way Vaibhav Suryavanshi is crying after being dropped, sitting alone in disappointment.
It feels like a harsh decision by Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer. pic.twitter.com/HbTn8Nxqrr
— Sonu (@Cricket_live247) July 11, 2026
“We needed to try the best combination that would be perfect on these conditions. And we also wanted a right-hander to go on with Abhishek. So, that was one of the major reasons. And if you see, I was the only one out of all the left-handers who was a right-hander. As I mentioned earlier, we wanted to try a different combination which would be suitable for this particular game. And he’s [Samson] a gun batsman. He has won so many series for us in the past,” Iyer said at the post-match press conference.
