While acknowledging that it would be difficult to integrate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into India’s established top order, batting icon Sunil Gavaskar supported the teenager for a debut in the first Twenty20 International against England on Monday, claiming his reckless style may surprise the hosts.
Although the 15-year-old did not play in India’s 0-2 series loss to Ireland, Gavaskar thinks his time spent in the dressing room with more experienced players has been beneficial and that he might surprise everyone in the five-match Twenty20 International series against England.
“I’m hoping he plays the first game because it will be the start of a new series and he gets the team off to a flying start. It’s the best way to recover from the series loss against Ireland,” PTI quoted Gavaskar telling reporters in an interaction organised by Sony Sports.
“How they fit him in is going to be a real tough one because both Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have done exceedingly well. You don’t want to break a partnership which has given you good results.”
In contrast to the other Indian batters who England would have studied throughout the Ireland series, Gavaskar claims that Sooryavanshi’s greatest advantage is that they haven’t had much chance to evaluate him.
“If I might say, more than a tactical (but) from a temperament point of view, because England doesn’t know what to expect. Some of them would have watched the Ireland matches and got some idea how to bowl to some of the Indian batters. But Sooryavanshi was not played, so nobody has seen him,” he said.
“All that they have seen of him are his videos of his IPL performances. So (if) he gets going, he can take the game away and that is what India needs at this particular point of time, after this loss, for somebody to make an impact straight away.”
Gavaskar praised Sooryavanshi’s seniors, such as Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma, for mentoring the youngster.
“We are seeing the senior players speaking with him in the dugout, which is a very good thing. Abhishek Sharma is his competitor as a left-handed batter, but the way he speaks about him, and the way Ishan Kishan speaks to him, it is a very encouraging sign,” Gavaskar said.
“They know he is a kid who has perhaps more than 20 years of cricket ahead. They are guiding him.”
Gavaskar added that spending time with seasoned international players will help Sooryavanshi’s growth ahead of future opportunities, even if he does not immediately make the playing XI.
“It’s not always compulsory that you have to play, sitting out, you can learn a lot about the dressing room environment. To see how the established players train to take their game ahead, how they handle failure in the dressing room — all this is also to be learnt.”
“I always believe temperament is more important than your technique and ability at the highest level. If you have a strong mindset to fight and overcome tough times, show patience to move forward… what we are seeing from the dugout, the grooming that he is getting will benefit him a lot.”
The former captain of India stated that Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir will take some time to establish themselves as a leadership duo at the international level.
“With any new relationship, there will always be just a little time taken for both to understand the support staff and the playing staff to understand what is expected of them. It will probably take a little (more) time, and so we just have to be a little patient with that,” he said.
Gavaskar warned that success at the international level faced a distinct challenge, despite the fact that Iyer has already proven his leadership abilities in domestic and franchise cricket by winning titles and leading teams to the knockout stages.
“Shreyas Iyer’s leadership has been proven over the years in the T20 format. We have seen him win trophies, and get teams into the knockouts and finals,” he said.
“But again, when it comes to international cricket, it is a whole different ball game. We see that where the individuals are brilliant at say, the Ranji Trophy level or the First-Class level, but somehow find that step up to the international level just a little bit tough to contend with. We just have to wait and see as far as Shreyas Iyer is concerned, this was just the first two games. Yes, it is a loss (against Ireland) which is hard to take. But let’s be a little patient and see how it goes in the next five games in England.”
