When India’s newest batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi walks into the pavilion for the T20I series against Ireland and England, he will be greeted by a logistical anomaly: a dedicated, entirely separate changing facility bearing his name.
While the left-hander has spent the last two seasons sharing high-profile dressing rooms with seasoned veterans at the Rajasthan Royals, India A and the Bihar state team, the ICC and ECB view things through an entirely different lens.
Because Sooryavanshi is just 15 years old, their safeguarding framework prohibits under-16 players from sharing changing spaces with adult athletes. While he has full clearance to sit in the main dressing room for team talks, strategy huddles, and live match interactions, the restriction enforces a strict physical boundary the moment clothes or gear need changing.
It is worth noting that the ICC/ECB rules apply strictly to the England leg of the tour. The Belfast fixtures fall under Cricket Ireland’s jurisdiction, where the framework is separately administered — though Cricket Ireland has confirmed similar arrangements are in place at Stormont.
How Does It Actually Work on Match Day?
The logistics are more nuanced than a simple room reassignment. Sooryavanshi is permitted in the India dressing room during matches and for team talks, with the restriction applying only when he is getting changed. Alternatively, he could change at a designated time in the main dressing room on his own, and leave when his senior teammates change.
This means the innings break creates a specific operational sequence. When India’s innings ends, Sooryavanshi must leave the main dressing room and move to his designated separate facility to change into fielding gear — then return to the main room for the second innings. Every venue on the England leg will replicate this arrangement.
India have already been given three separate rooms in the pavilion at the Civil Service Cricket Ground in Stormont to maintain the required safeguarding perimeters.
When Did A Cricketer Had a Separate Dressing Room Last Time?
While a separate changing room for an active international cricketer feels unprecedented in modern cricket history, it is a well-documented protocol across European sports.
The Football Precedent: Arsenal’s teenage prodigy Max Dowman has been obliged to change in a separate room under FA safeguarding regulations since his first-team debut. Despite turning 16, Dowman must wait until he is 18 before he can share the same changing room as the rest of the Arsenal squad. He is, however, permitted to join the dressing room for team talks.
The Cricket Context: Cricket has rarely had to deploy these frameworks simply because senior international debuts for under-16 athletes have been virtually nonexistent in the modern, highly regulated era.
Even when a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar debuted against Pakistan in 1989, safeguarding policies like the ECB’s Safe Hands framework did not exist. Sooryavanshi’s arrival has forced cricket infrastructure to implement these rules at the highest level for the first time.
What Does It Actually Cost?
No official figures have been disclosed by either the BCCI, ECB, or Cricket Ireland. But the financial picture can be reasonably mapped across two distinct cost heads.
Venue Retrofitting and Space Management (Host Boards): Most major international venues already possess secondary changing areas or auxiliary spaces, keeping incremental costs modest. The real cost at smaller venues like Stormont is opportunity cost — rooms allocated to Sooryavanshi’s safeguarding setup cannot be used for match officials, media, or other operational purposes.
Across five England venues — Durham, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol, and Southampton — each county board’s safeguarding officer must also conduct formal risk assessments and liaise with India’s touring liaison officer, adding staff time and administrative overhead at every stop. These are not headline figures, but they are real and recurring across every match.
The Parental Protocol (BCCI)
The larger and more quantifiable cost sits entirely with the BCCI. The board is bearing the full cost of Sooryavanshi’s parents’ travel and accommodation throughout the tour.
For a tour spanning seven matches across two countries — Belfast, then five English cities — that amounts to return international flights, hotel accommodation across approximately four weeks, and local transport for two adults at team hotel rates.
A conservative estimate would place this in the range of ₹15–20 lakh, though the BCCI has not disclosed the figure. The decision was framed as a duty of care, with BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia comparing it to a school excursion where a minor requires adult supervision.