Former India batter Mohammad Kaif believes that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's introduction in international cricket could have been made easier by the team management, comprising head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shreyas Iyer. On the back of a phenomenal IPL 2026, the 15-year-old was named in India's squad for the series against Ireland and England. The world expected the youngster to play in Ireland, but that wasn't the case as management went in with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.
Three failures were all it took for Samson to be dropped, and Sooryavanshi finally got a debut in England. However, the left-hander failed in his first three outings and was then dropped for the fifth and final match against England. Sooryavanshi was discovered by Jofra Archer when his Rajasthan Royals teammate kept dismissing him.
Kaif reckons Sooryavanshi's struggles in the UK were all down to the youngster's nervousness. He said that the story would have been different had he started his journey in Ireland.
“Vaibhav is an X-factor player. He made a reputation for himself. His bat did the talking in the IPL despite him being in the spotlight. He didn't just perform in one or two matches. He won the Orange Cap. He should have played in Ireland; the nervousness would have gone in that case. He would have reached England and performed well,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
{{/usCountry}}“Vaibhav is an X-factor player. He made a reputation for himself. His bat did the talking in the IPL despite him being in the spotlight. He didn't just perform in one or two matches. He won the Orange Cap. He should have played in Ireland; the nervousness would have gone in that case. He would have reached England and performed well,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
{{/usCountry}}“He was having a rich vein of form behind him; he had won the Orange Cap. But you told him you serve water first. He's a special player; you could have played him directly in Ireland. He should have gotten special treatment. If he played in Ireland, he would not have had any nervousness in the UK,” he added.
‘Journey made tough’
Kaif further said that Sooryavanshi's journey in international cricket was made tougher than it needed to be. Citing the example of the Zimbabwe tour where Sooryavanshi was adjudged as Player of the Series, Kaif predicted that the youngster would score heaps of runs when he plays in India.
“He didn't perform well in England; you dropped him. Sooryavanshi was playing against Archer. He hasn't played in India yet, but I am sure he will score a lot of runs when he plays here. Sooryavanshi's India journey was tough; it could have been made easier,” said Kaif.
“It was made tough for him. He's a special talent; you shouldn't have dropped him. You should have played him in Ireland. Now see, against Zimbabwe, he won the Player of the Series award,” he added.
Sooryavanshi scored 151 runs in the three T20Is against Zimbabwe, with his highest score of 81, and was therefore named Player of the Series.