India's Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, at 15 years old, is set to become the country's youngest international cricketer on Friday in a Twenty20 against Ireland in Belfast, before playing a five-match T20 series against England starting in Durham next Wednesday. However, due to his age, he will be required to use his own changing room for safeguarding reasons during the England leg of the tour.
Safeguarding Measures in Place
The England series is an International Cricket Council event, and the governing body's safeguarding procedures, along with those of the England and Wales Cricket Board, will be in force. Both prohibit under-16s from using adult changing rooms, so Sooryavanshi will have his own facilities at all venues. His parents are understood to be accompanying him on the tour.
Sooryavanshi will be permitted in the India dressing room during the game and can attend team talks, with the restriction applying only when he is getting changed before and after each match. Such measures are standard practice in English sport, with Arsenal's Max Dowman using a separate changing room last season until he turned 16 in December, but they are new to Sooryavanshi as they do not apply in India.
ECB and BCCI Collaboration
The ECB is working closely with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and all five T20 venues to ensure appropriate measures are in place. An ECB statement said: "This is an ICC event, with their safeguarding procedures active as they have jurisdiction. A safeguarding concern occurring during the event may (in some circumstances) be managed by the ICC. In addition to this, the ECB Safe Hands policy applies at all times."
The statement added: "The Cricket Regulator is in contact with the team liaison officer for the Indian team to discuss requirements and expectations for the player while he is in the UK. Each county safeguarding officer for the relevant cricket venue is also working closely with the team liaison officer to ensure venue protocols and arrangements (specifically changing room environments) are understood and adhered to. This is conducted via safeguarding risk assessments."
It also noted: "It is our understanding that the player's parents will be travelling with him at all times. They are staying in the same hotel, which is outside of usual protocol, but agreed on this occasion due to his age. This additional measure provides us with further confidence that he has family members that can provide the additional level of support and care."
Record-Breaking Achievements
Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record for India's youngest international debutant, made his Test debut aged 16 years and 205 days in 1989. Sooryavanshi will become the youngest international cricketer to play for a full member nation since 1996, when Pakistan selected 14-year-old Hasan Raza for a one-day international against Bangladesh.
Sooryavanshi has made an extraordinary impact since his IPL debut as a 14-year-old last year. After scoring 252 runs at a strike rate of 206.5 for Rajasthan Royals in his debut season, becoming the youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket with a hundred off 38 balls, he was the highest scorer in the IPL this year with 776 runs and broke Chris Gayle's 14-year-old record for hitting the most sixes in a season, finishing with 65.
He prepared for the tour by making five appearances for India A this month and on Sunday scored 94 off 29 balls against Sri Lanka A, an innings that featured the fastest List A fifty, which came off 11 balls. India play two T20s against Ireland on Friday and Sunday before travelling to England, but the safeguarding regulations are not expected to be applied in Belfast as those matches are under the jurisdiction of Cricket Ireland.
