Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was unfortunate to miss out on making his international debut during India's T20I series against Ireland. India's tour of Ireland ended on a disappointing note after India suffered a 0-2 series defeat. 

Gavaskar felt that Sooryavanshi could have slotted into the opening combination alongside either Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson in at least one of the two matches. India will now face England in a two-match T20I series, starting on Wednesday, and Gavaskar asserted that England series would be the perfect opportunity to introduce the teenager to international cricket.

“Not expected when India went to Ireland. Because at that stage, I honestly thought that with Ireland not being seen as a real threat, they would give young Suryavanshi a debut in the first game with either Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson. And in the second game again, either of them. So he would play both the matches, and Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson would play one out of the two matches. That is what I thought when the team left for Ireland. Because that's a very good way of breaking in a youngster before the sterner tests of England,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Gavaskar expressed confidence that Vaibhav will get an opportunity in one of the matches against England. 

“I think he will play in one of the matches, if not all the matches in England. Depends on what happens in the second T20I against Ireland. It really would be unthinkable if India lost a series to Ireland. We are the world champions. It's not just Indian cricket. We are the world champions."

"Ireland is a full-member team. But Ireland has also beaten full-member teams in the past. But not so much in the T20 format. Perhaps in the 50-over format, they have managed to surprise other teams. So, this game becomes very, very important. And depending on this game, we'll probably get a better idea,” he added.