Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is set to become India's youngest international cricketer, but the 15-year-old's maiden tour of England will come with arrangements not required for any of his senior teammates.
According to a report by The Guardian, Sooryavanshi will use separate changing facilities during India's upcoming T20I series against England as part of safeguarding regulations that apply to players under the age of 16.
The teenager is expected to make his international debut against Ireland before travelling to England for a five-match T20I series. If selected, he will surpass Sachin Tendulkar as India's youngest international cricketer. Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days old when he made his Test debut in 1989. Sooryavanshi is also set to become the youngest player to represent a Full Member nation in international cricket since Pakistan's Hasan Raza, who debuted at 14 in 1996.
According to the safeguarding policies implemented by the ICC and the ECB for under-16 participants in cricket events held in England and Wales, "separate facilities should be available for children to change/shower in a different location to adults". While 16 and 17-year-olds may, under specific circumstances, share changing facilities with adults following a risk assessment, the guidance does not extend those provisions to players younger than 16.
As a result, Sooryavanshi will have separate facilities at all venues during the England leg of the tour. However, he will still be permitted to attend team meetings and spend time in the dressing room during matches, with the restriction applying only while players are changing before and after games.
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Such measures are standard practice across youth sport in England. Arsenal academy player Max Dowman also used separate changing facilities from senior teammates before turning 16.
Sooryavanshi's parents are also expected to accompany him throughout the tour, an arrangement understood to have been approved because of his age.
The guidelines were not applicable in the IPL, and are unlikely to be in place for the T20I series against Ireland either.
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