The chorus continues to grow for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be featured in India’s squad for the next T20I assignment against Ireland in June. However, several pundits are going the extra mile to bat for the 15-year-old being tried out in Tests, as he can give the national team a new lease of life in the toughest and longest format. Just some days earlier, former Australia captain Aaron Finch said that Sooryavanshi can be the ideal fit in India’s middle-order and can play a similar role to Rishabh Pant.
Sooryavanshi, who scored 36 runs off just 16 balls against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday, has left former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin mighty impressed. The second-highest wicket-taker for India in international cricket said that Sooryavanshi is leaving no stone unturned and is putting every ounce of force he can into the cricket ball.
It is a testament to Sooryavanshi’s talent and brilliance that he is carrying the Rajasthan Royals’ batting single-handedly. He failed to go big against the Titans, and hence it is no surprise that the hosts ended up suffering a staggering 77-run defeat.
Ashwin said that the burden should be taken by senior players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag and Sooryavanshi should just bat with freedom.
“He is leaving no stone unturned, putting every ounce of force he can into the cricket ball. The way he played, even in the U-19 World Cup final, putting everything together, he is looking like a box-office player. There are very few windows in your cricketing career where you can absolutely enjoy your cricket, and he is only 15 years old. I think we should just let him be,” Ashwin said on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’.
“There is no point asking him to do things he shouldn’t be doing at this stage of his career. He has experienced players like Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Donovan Ferreira to follow. He shouldn’t be the one carrying that burden. If he can give them flying starts, then with the batting line-up they have, they should be winning games like those comfortably,” he added.
‘Wouldn’t mind’
Ashwin then stated that he wouldn’t mind watching Sooryavanshi play for India across all three formats of the game, as he has the potential to strike gold.
“He is taking every bowler down. I wouldn’t mind watching him in a Test match, and I wouldn’t mind watching him in all three formats of the game. Get him onto cricket grounds, get people coming along, because he is going to entertain you,” said Ashwin.
Speaking of Sooryavanshi, he has scored 440 runs in 11 matches for the Royals in the IPL 2026 season, including one century. The opening batter has been striking at a phenomenal 236.55 and averaging 40.