Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old teen prodigy, emerged as the standout performer of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, scoring 776 runs. He won a total of five awards, including the Orange Cap and the Most Valuable Player. He broke a plethora of records, including the youngest to surpass the 1000-run mark in the tournament and also the most sixes in a single edition of the IPL. The left-hander’s performance for the Rajasthan Royals has led to calls for his inclusion in the Indian T20I team for the upcoming assignments against Ireland and England.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to put Sooryavanshi into the deep end and get him into the mix for the upcoming T20I tours to find out whether the youngster could excel in all sorts of conditions or not.
“Vaibhav would be the next in line after the incumbents, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. But I’d like to see Vaibhav play in similar batting conditions to those in the IPL, if they pick him for India at all. Won’t be a great idea to put him straight into, you know, foreign, kind of, on a foreign pitch, like New Zealand, South Africa, we’ll see,” Manjrekar said on Sportstar’s ‘Insight Edge’ Podcast.
“He might go out there and repeat what he’s done in the IPL. But, yeah, it’s a tough one when you look at the contenders. Whether Gill is in front or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, it’s a tough call. So, let it happen organically and see how it goes,” he added.
Speaking of Sooryavanshi, no one really knows whether he will be picked for the Ireland tour, but he will soon be seen in action for India A in the upcoming tri-series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A, beginning June 9.
‘Difficult to predict’
Speaking of Sooryavanshi, he finished the season with a strike rate in excess of 200 (237.31) and also got out in the 90s on three occasions. He scored 97 and 96 in the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Rajasthan Royals, respectively.
Manjrekar said that there are a lot of things to like about Sooryavanshi, but it would be a case of tracking his growth and how he goes about his business going ahead.
“When I go and meet people on the cricket ground, the first question they ask is, ‘How good is he? Obviously, he’s taken the T20 or the IPL by storm. And now, because we have the same people like Dhoni nd some of the others, a lot of people think that he’s carried the IPL in the last, second half by his performances,” said Manjrekar.
“For me, my problem with predicting the future of a certain player is that you see the potential. It’s like when you have a fast bowler on a green top. Ideally, bowling conditions come and take a five-wicket home. And then the hard man to please will always say, it remains to be seen how he bowls on a flat page or with the old ball. So, what we have to really take and what I will take from his performances is phenomenal for somebody who’s fairly young, and he’s got some hitting talent. He’s got some great ballset. He also has the range,” he added.
The former India batter also stated that one shouldn’t start talking about Sooryavanshi in Tests, and one needs to wait to see how the youngster looks to carve his way out going ahead.
“A lot of people are saying how we should handle him? And how will he fare in red-ball cricket? I don’t think it’s our job to handle. It isn’t even the BCCI’s job. He is an individual. And I’m sure there are people around him who would like him to play with his coaches. It’s about what he sets out to do in life. If he wants to just be a T20 sensation and focus on T20 cricket, so be it. And that shouldn’t be held against him. But then you’ll be judged only as a T20 phenomenal player. He plays 50-over cricket. And I think there’s great value in certain conditions for him to bat in the first 10 overs and do what Rohit Sharma did in the 2023 World Cup. Even better than Rohit,” said Manjrekar.
“It really should be about him deciding what he wants to be in life. Because if he wants to play red ball cricket, it’s a little unfair that he gets picked on for these performances when there could be certain deserving players who have done the hard yards in that Bihar Ranji Trophy team. Let’s not complicate things for him. Let him decide. If he wants to aspire to play in the Ranji Trophy cricket, he’s got to fight for his place in that side. And let the state selectors decide whether he’s going to be adding value or whether he’s going to be a good enough player. But it’s really about what he wants to do,” he added.