15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been deemed ready for international cricket by India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, but he also made it clear that the youngster will need to go through the same procedure as other members of the team before making his debut.
Sooryavanshi’s exclusion from the T20 series against Ireland has become a hot topic of discussion after the Indian side, the T20 World champion, was defeated 0-2, with the second defeat being on Sunday by only 1 run.
“He (Sooryavanshi) is absolutely ready to play international cricket, there is no doubt about that but also Sanju Samson is a guy who went a long way to win us the World Cup three months ago,” PTI quoted Ten Doeschate as saying when the inevitable query on Sooryavanshi came up during the post-match press conference.
“He has got a fairly good IPL, and it is important to give players confidence and message to the players, we want to give guys a long run in the team. We are all excited to see Vaibhav play but he has to go through the same process but certainly no question about how good he is,” he asserted, reiterating what batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had said at the start of the series.
With an astounding strike rate of more than 230, Sooryavanshi emerged as the IPL’s highest run scorer this year. With 776 runs, he was named both the season’s Most Valuable Player and Emerging Player.
As India now travel to England for a T20 series starting on July 1 in Chester-le-Street, the excitement over his inclusion in the playing XI is expected to increase.
If he makes his debut on this tour, he will break the record of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who made his debut at the age of 16, to become India’s youngest international debutant.
