Online Sports Desk
India’s rotation policy with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued in the fourth T20I against New Zealand, with the team management dropping the teenager for Ishan Kishan.
Sooryavanshi played in the second and third T20Is after Ishan Kishan was injured. In one of the matches, he played at No. 3, while in the third T20I, he opened and scored 45 off 19 balls. Former Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Flemming said the process followed by the Indian team is right.
“His time will come; he will be that person, that incumbent. But I think it’s a great message because it’s a really inconsistent game. You’re asking players to go out there and play at a really high level of skill and risk, and if they feel that they’re compromised and they start double-guessing because their place is under threat, then they don’t have that freedom to go out and play right on the edge of their skill level, right on the edge of the limits,” he said on the Sony Sports Network.
Recently, players like Ravichandran Ashwin have also said that playing Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan at the top in T20Is is the right way forward. He added:
“These are all big statements to make so early in his life. I really hope that the young boy gets that breathing space. I know he is going to be the poster boy of Indian cricket at some stage, but we all need to take that backward step and allow him to enjoy his cricket,” Ashwin said.
Sooryavanshi has so far played 10 T20Is. He has featured in matches in England, Zimbabwe and now in New Zealand. He already has two half-centuries at a strike rate of 185.53.
Earlier, India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer described the batting display of Abhishek Sharma and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as “absolutely stunning” after their explosive start powered India to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the third T20I on Tuesday, sealing an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
“Absolutely stunning. It was pleasing to the eyes the way they played strokes. Also, when Sanju and I went to bat, the ball was seaming, and I was like, how did they manage this? It was simply mind-boggling,” Iyer said during the post-match presentation.
