By Chiranjit Ojha; Reuters.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old who is on track to become the youngest player to represent India, cannot share a dressing room with his older teammates due to safeguarding laws during upcoming Twenty20 matches in Ireland and England.
Safeguarding protocols mandated by global cricket body ICC and the United Kingdom, enforced by the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Ireland, prohibit players under 16 from using adult dressing rooms.
Sooryavanshi, who was the highest scorer in this year’s Indian Premier League, will use a separate dressing room during the two-match 20-over series against Ireland starting on Friday and next month’s five T20s against England.
“The Indian team have been given three separate rooms in the pavilion and safeguarding laws have been advised,” a Cricket Ireland spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that the Indian cricket board would manage the arrangements in accordance with U.K. laws.
Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri faced a similar issue until last year as he was banned from the team’s dressing room due to Premier League regulations barring Under-18 players from sharing a changing room with senior professionals.
Sooryavanshi, who on Sunday scored the fastest List A fifty in just 11 balls while playing for India A, will turn 16 in March 2027.