As India recover and look to return to winning ways against England after a series defeat in Ireland, the reluctance to not play 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has become a huge talking point.
Named in India’s T20I squads for the trips to Ireland and England, India stuck to the top three of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan that won them the T20 World Cup in February-March in the two Ireland T20Is, not falling to the temptation of picking the teenage sensation.
With no time to sit back and analyse, India will face England in the first of five T20Is, starting in Durham on Wednesday, with all questions again whether Sooryavanshi should play.
Shreyas Iyer, the new T20I captain, pointed out the thought process when it came to not disturbing the top three in Ireland.
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“It’s difficult for the management to decide when to give you a chance. Look, all the players in the team have performed well; it’s not that only one individual has performed well. But we have to build that opportunity and security so that each individual has confidence going forward into the tournaments. And, the people who have won the last World Cup definitely have an idea of how to play T20, and continuously, they have been the main pillars of that format. So, it’s very important to back them,” Shreyas said on the eve of the first T20I at Chester-Le-Street.
File image of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in action for India A against Sri Lanka A. (Photo: BCCI via X)
Although the temptation to play Sooryavanshi has been too hard to resist, India’s think-tank has been backing its philosophy to back the players who have been performing consistently over the last two years.
In a format which demands high-risk batting, they are wary of batsmen ending up playing for their spots with scores next to them. With strike-rate being the prime focus, giving security to players is what India’s plan has been all along in the last two years since Gautam Gambhir took charge.
But how long they will be able to keep out Sooryavanshi, who has already become the toast of the nation, remains to be seen. Even in England, there has been a huge hype around his arrival thanks to his IPL exploits, with the likes of Jos Buttler raving about his talent.
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Shreyas was asked whether fans in Durham would be able to witness Sooryavanshi take the field on Wednesday, and the Indian captain kept it open. “See, you never know what is going to happen. Our hands are also tied at the moment in terms of what we are going to do. Because this is very private. This is something that we discuss in the team. We can’t let everyone know about what combination we are going to play and let the opponents know that this is going to happen. So, definitely, he is a brilliant prodigy. And whenever he gets an opportunity to play, definitely, he will do brilliant,” he said.
While there has been a bit of uproar over Sooryavanshi’s exclusion, there have been voices of support for him not starting straight away as well. With a busy season ahead, India are also aware they need to ease his way in. Although the outside noise have reached them, the plan seems to rotate the options going forward.
While the series in Ireland didn’t get off Shreyas’ stint on a successful note, the middle-order batsman said they would be able to turn things around in England.
“Great opportunity, it’s going to be challenging. Definitely, the last series didn’t go according to our plan. But in this series, everyone is in a good mind space, and we are definitely looking forward to have an intense game, and a great mindset is involved within each other, the group. So, the calmer we are in the pressure situation, it’s going to be beneficial for us,” he said.