India teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may not have enjoyed the dream debut he had hoped for, but he earned praise from England’s winners Jacob Bethel after the second T20I in Manchester on Saturday.Sooryavanshi, 15, became India’s youngest-ever T20I debutant when he was picked in the second Test against England. Although he only scored 14 runs, the left-hander showed off his talent with two sixes before being stumped.After England’s four-match win, Besser said he has been following Soriyavanshi’s progress and believes the youngster has a bright future.“Yeah. It feels weird to say I’m playing against someone seven years younger than me, but, yeah, you know, I’ve seen him bat in India. I watched his swing today and everything was pure. So, yeah, he’s an unbelievable talent,” Bethel said.
India’s youngest T20I debut
Sooryavanshi became India’s youngest international debutant at the age of 15 years, 3 months and 7 days, surpassing Shafali Verma’s record.The Bihar youngster earned a call-up to the Indian national team after a brilliant IPL season with Rajasthan Royals, in which he scored 776 runs in 16 games, including 100s and 500s. He also broke Chris Gayle’s record for most bats in a single season of IPL.However, his international debut ended quietly, with him scoring 14 points and then being stumped. Later, he took his first international catch on the boundary during England’s chase.
Bethell leads England
While Sooryavanshi’s debut attracted a lot of attention, Besser stole the show with an unbeaten 76 to lead England to a four-wicket win while chasing 191 runs. The home team leads the five-game series by one goal, 1-0.Besser said the innings became even more satisfying against one of the strongest bowling attacks in the world.“I really enjoyed that semi-final (2026 T20 World Cup) even though we didn’t get across the finish line. They are a highly skilled attacking team and it’s just that I played them on two beautiful pitches. And, yes, you want to do well against the best teams in the world. So, yeah, it’s really nice to do that,” he said.England were in trouble at 1/2 but Harry Brook’s aggressive 39 off 15 balls changed the momentum. Bethell then formed important partnerships, particularly with Tom Banton, to ensure the chase went smoothly.“It ended up being pretty good, but right into the second, Brook set the tone right there. He turned the momentum right on them… Everybody was just pumping in. In this kind of chase, you’re not going fast all the time, but a few big runs, and then the game changes,” Besser said.
Bishnoi’s costly move changes game
The decisive moment came in the 17th over when Ravi Bishnoi conceded 29 runs, including two no-balls, to win two free-kicks for England.Bethell admits England changed their approach following the free giveaway.“Honestly, I’d probably target the other end more… but when you get a couple free hits and the pitcher goes down, you try to catch him. So, yeah, everything is going great,” he said.Besser also said that England’s batsmen have adapted well to boundaries of different sizes instead of focusing only on shorter ones.“It might be easier for one side to hit sixes, but you can also score the same number of runs by hitting the ball to a wider gap. It’s just about exploiting that intelligently. I think as a batting group, we’re really good at that,” he added.Despite the defeat, Suryavansh’s debut remained one of the biggest talking points of the tournament, with Bethel’s glowing praise underlining the excitement surrounding India’s emerging teenage starlet.
