Wed, June 24, 2026
India’s youngest international cricketer to use own changing room as part of ICC and ECB safeguarding regulations
India’s youngest international cricketer, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, will be required to use his own changing room as part of safeguarding regulations during the England Twenty20 (T20) series.
After becoming the highest scorer in the Indian Premier League this year with 776 runs, Sooryavanshi is expected to make history on Friday by competing in a T20 International against Ireland prior to a five-match T20 series against England at just 15-years-old. He will become the youngest international cricketer to play for a full member nation since 1996, as reported by The Guardian. A full member nation in cricket is an official member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that possesses full voting rights, exclusive rights to play official Test matches, and automatic qualification for One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
The England T20 series is governed by the ICC and England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) rules which state that under-16s cannot use adult changing rooms, so Sooryavanshi will have to be separated at all venues: Durham (Banks Homes Riverside), Manchester (Emirates Old Trafford,) Nottingham (Trent Bridge), Bristol (County Ground) and Southampton (Utilita Bowl). He can only join the adults in their changing room during the game and to participate in team talks. This changing rule is currently not applicable in India, where Sooryavanshi changes alongside his other teammates, and the safeguarding regulations will most likely not be applied in Belfast during the T20 International against Ireland as this event is under the jurisdiction of Cricket Ireland.
Sooryavanshi’s parents will also be present.
The ECB told The Guardian: “Each county safeguarding officer for the relevant cricket venue is also working closely with the team liaison officer [for the Indian team] to ensure venue protocols and arrangements (specifically changing room environments) are understood and adhered to. This is conducted via safeguarding risk assessments…
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.”
This requirement is not unique to cricket, Arsenal’s Max Dowman also had to change separately until he turned 16 at the end of last year, for example.
