Mumbai: Teenaged batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's wait for his maiden India cap continued on Sunday when he wasn't included in the XI for the second T20I against Ireland at Belfast, with India's team management remaining firm on its decision to play openers Sanju Samson, India's 2026 T20 World Cup hero, and the explosive Abhishek Sharma, who hit a fifty in the visitors' stunning 34-run defeat to the hosts in the opening T20I on Friday.
India's decision to keep the 15-year-old wonderboy of world cricket on the bench for now has sparked a debate. Former England off-spin stalwart Graeme Swann feels that left to him, the destructive Bihar and Rajasthan Royals opener, whom termed as "generational talent," would be making his India debut immediately.
"Well, if I were an Indian captain or coach, I would have him in immediately. I've said this, I'm a huge fan of Vaibhav. He's a generational talent and I'd say get him in ASAP. The way he played in the IPL this year, having started last season and doing incredibly well, again, everyone's heads turning and thinking, who is this kid? I think there was an expectation that his performances would taper, would fall off this season. If anything, he got better and better. And that little mid IPL blip, one or two games where people thought, ‘oh, he's got a weakness if we bowl very full.’ And they got him out with Yorkers a couple of times. He got a couple of low scores. He immediately adapted and then scored at a terrific rate in the next few knocks. I think he is a sort of once in a generation talent, generational talent that comes around. And I think the sooner that India plays him, the sooner they expose him to international cricket. There is no reason why he cannot be the best player in the world for the next 15 years. I think he's that good," Swann said at an interaction on Sunday.
Batting vigorously for Sooryavanshi's inclusion, Swann said that he was doing so while factoring in the logic of "dropping someone who doesn't necessarily deserve to be dropped," purely because "Sooryavanshi has outperformed them all in the IPL."
"Of course, I do understand the sensibilities of just picking him, and dropping someone who doesn't necessarily deserve to be dropped. And that's where India have a bit of an issue at the minute, because when you look at the first XI, you look at the batting lineup, there's not really anyone who you'd say, well, they deserve to be dropped on performances. You could argue that, well, Sooryavanshi has outperformed them all in the IPL, which he did. Let's face it, his stats don't lie. He hit more sixes than Chris Gayle. He scored more runs at a better rate than anybody. So, I would build an attack, a batting line-up around him. And yes, someone will miss out and it will be tough on them on the back of winning world trophies and everything like that and then potentially missing out. But if you can find a way of getting him in and exposing him, he can hit the best b
India's decision to keep the 15-year-old wonderboy of world cricket on the bench for now has sparked a debate. Former England off-spin stalwart Graeme Swann feels that left to him, the destructive Bihar and Rajasthan Royals opener, whom termed as "generational talent," would be making his India debut immediately.
"Well, if I were an Indian captain or coach, I would have him in immediately. I've said this, I'm a huge fan of Vaibhav. He's a generational talent and I'd say get him in ASAP. The way he played in the IPL this year, having started last season and doing incredibly well, again, everyone's heads turning and thinking, who is this kid? I think there was an expectation that his performances would taper, would fall off this season. If anything, he got better and better. And that little mid IPL blip, one or two games where people thought, ‘oh, he's got a weakness if we bowl very full.’ And they got him out with Yorkers a couple of times. He got a couple of low scores. He immediately adapted and then scored at a terrific rate in the next few knocks. I think he is a sort of once in a generation talent, generational talent that comes around. And I think the sooner that India plays him, the sooner they expose him to international cricket. There is no reason why he cannot be the best player in the world for the next 15 years. I think he's that good," Swann said at an interaction on Sunday.
Batting vigorously for Sooryavanshi's inclusion, Swann said that he was doing so while factoring in the logic of "dropping someone who doesn't necessarily deserve to be dropped," purely because "Sooryavanshi has outperformed them all in the IPL."
"Of course, I do understand the sensibilities of just picking him, and dropping someone who doesn't necessarily deserve to be dropped. And that's where India have a bit of an issue at the minute, because when you look at the first XI, you look at the batting lineup, there's not really anyone who you'd say, well, they deserve to be dropped on performances. You could argue that, well, Sooryavanshi has outperformed them all in the IPL, which he did. Let's face it, his stats don't lie. He hit more sixes than Chris Gayle. He scored more runs at a better rate than anybody. So, I would build an attack, a batting line-up around him. And yes, someone will miss out and it will be tough on them on the back of winning world trophies and everything like that and then potentially missing out. But if you can find a way of getting him in and exposing him, he can hit the best b
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