Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old prodigy, had a breakout Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season earlier this year, scoring 776 runs, which earned him a senior call-up. However, the chances have not materialised consistently, as the management has stuck with the tried-and-tested opening combination of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. The left-handed batter made it to India’s playing XI for the Asian Games as the VVS Laxman-spearheaded management decided to go in with the trio of Vaibhav, Abhishek and Sanju to extend the batting lineup on spin-friendly tracks. While the youngster impressed in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, scoring a quickfire 38, he was dismissed early on in the gold medal match against Pakistan.
With the Men in Blue returning to Indian shores for the upcoming five-match series against the West Indies, the question is once again being asked whether head coach Gautam Gambhir will give Sooryavanshi a chance in the playing XI.
Ahead of the series opener, skipper Shreyas Iyer pointed out the biggest irony pertaining to Sooryavanshi, saying he’s quite calm and quiet inside the dressing room, but is “destructive” on the field. The captain also added that he keeps speaking to the youngster about how to go about his business.
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“I keep interacting with Vaibhav in terms of what he does outside the field, because everyone talks to him about cricket, and we know how talented and gifted as an individual he is. So, just to talk about his lifestyle outside, that interaction, knowing about his family, what he does, what not, that excites him more because he’s more of himself when he talks about it,” Shreyas said on ‘Follow The Blues’.
“And a very silent guy, but on the field, is very destructive. So, that’s like an irony when you look at him. He’s a very charming, sweet guy to interact with and good to have him around the dressing room,” he added.
Recently, Sooryavanshi hadn’t featured in a single game in the three-match series against Afghanistan, and after the team won 3-0, head coach Gambhir made it clear that the left-hander needs to wait for his opportunity. Hence, the status quo is likely to be maintained.
How has Sooryavanshi fared so far?
The youngster became the youngest-ever debutant for India earlier this year after he got a game in the 2nd T20I against England. However, three failures were all it took for the management to drop the left-hander and bring Samson back in.
Samson was then rested for the Zimbabwe tour, and Sooryavanshi got all three matches under Laxman and was adjudged as Player of the Series for his total of 151 runs. However, this performance wasn’t enough for him to start against Afghanistan, and the management went with Samson and Abhishek, who performed decently, and hence are likely to start against the Windies as well.
Shreyas pointed out that Sooryavanshi’s time will definitely come, and he’ll dominate world cricket. “And I know that his time will come, because we have been playing with World Cup-winning openers right now, and they deserve the time out there, and he’s still in the 15. So definitely, when his time comes, he is going to dominate Indian cricket,” said India’s T20I captain.