India, July 1 -- Every time India take the field now, one question drowns out everything else: When does Vaibhav Sooryavanshi get his India cap? And it's a perfectly valid question.

He smashed 776 runs in IPL 2026 at a strike rate nearing 240. The BCCI rewarded him with a senior-team call-up almost immediately, and he justified the hype by blasting 94 off just 29 balls for India A in the tri-series final in Sri Lanka earlier this month.

But fair questions don't always have simple answers. India resisted the temptation to throw him straight into the XI in Ireland, a decision that drew criticism from experts and former cricketers after the defending champions suffered a shocking 0-2 series defeat, with their star-studded batting line-up m...