Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is “God’s gift to Indian cricket,” according to Sunil Gavaskar, and should be selected for their forthcoming white-ball tour of England, even if it means removing a proven top-order batsman from the starting lineup.
Gavaskar is astounded by Sooryavanshi’s courageous strokeplay, particularly the way he hit Pat Cummins for a straight six, after witnessing the boy wonder’s incredible 29-ball-97 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL Eliminator.
“2026 will be remembered as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Year. He (Sooryavanshi) is ready to play T20 International cricket. For England away T20 series, he will be selected. I mean he deserves to be selected after this brilliant show. If you don’t give him chance after this performance, when will you give him chance?” Gavaskar said in a YouTube show Sports Tak.
Given that he is hitting everything at the ripe age of 15, the former India captain is confident that age shouldn’t be a factor.
“Don’t go by his age. He is hitting those bowlers who are older than him. In fact at 15, he is hitting bowlers with 15 years of international experience. Just look at his fearless approach,” Gavaskar said.
However, the team think tank would have to exclude either Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson in order to make room for Sooryavanshi in the starting XI.
“Yes there will be headache as to whom you should drop. But it is a happy headache to have. When your option is whom to drop, that speaks of your country’s depth of talent. I think he (Sooryavanshi) will be kept in squad of 15 or 16 but whether he will be in 11 or not can be decided later. But the experience he will gain in that dressing room will be priceless,” Gavaskar added.
A boy who consistently smashes sixes straight down the ground is anything but a slogger in Gavaskar’s eyes.
“What we saw yesterday, even when I take into account some of his earlier innings, was different. He is not just special, he is very, very extra-ordinarily special. When we visualise six-hitters, the idea of a slogger comes to our mind. But this kid hits straight sixes — over long-on and long-off with technical perfectness.”
“And when one bowls short balls, he comes inside the line and hooks and pulls it with such cleanliness, that’s a rarity. Not just me but everyone apart from SRH players were sad when he got out at 97 and missed the record for fastest century. Sooryavanshi is God’s gift to Indian cricket.”
Gavaskar was fortunate enough to witness Sachin Tendulkar playing for Mumbai at the age of 15, but he refrained from drawing any comparisons.
“Sachin had all qualities. He could attack, he could defend, all shots in the book. His balance was very different. When I saw him for first time, I thought that he too was God’s gift. The bats are different. That time Sachin played, bats were different and weren’t as powerful. You need bats like you get now to hit those sixes.”
When Sooryavanshi approached Gavaskar prior to pre-match practice and touched his feet, he became emotional as well.
“Our upbringing teaches us to respect our elders. Not just me, Sanjay Bangar was standing alongside me and he touched his feet also. He might have expected that I would say something and I told him ‘Lage Raho’ (Carry on).”
What does Gavaskar expect from the boy, then?
“I don’t want that kid in him to grow up,” he said in jest.
