Sooryavanshi warmed the bench in the Afghanistan series as India preferred the T20 World Cup-winning combination.
India completed a 3-0 clean sweep over Afghanistan in the T20I series with a commanding 127-run victory in the third and final match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday (September 17).
After being asked to bat first, India posted a formidable total of 221/7 in 20 overs on the back of Abhishek Sharma’s record-shattering century (108 off 34) and Sanju Samson’s vital half-century (50 off 35).
Chasing 222, the Afghanistan batting lineup collapsed under relentless pressure from the Indian bowling unit. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravi Bishnoi bagged three wickets each while Axar Patel returned with a couple of scalps as India bundled the hosts out for a mere 94 runs in 14.1 overs.
Speaking during the post-match presser, India head coach Gautam Gambhir emphasized that individual milestones like centuries or half-centuries matter much less than the actual impact a player creates with the bat or ball in T20Is.
For Gambhir, scoring 100 runs during the Powerplay was as a major positive from the third T20I. Driven by the talent in the dressing room, he has set his sights on breaking boundaries and achieving an innings score of 300 in the shortest format.
"It's not about the 100 that he [Abhishek] scored today. I can sit here and keep talking about his 100. But it's just the impact. The only thing that we talk in the dressing room is about how much impact can we create with the bat and how much impact can we create with the ball. And that has been our ideology, that has been our philosophy since the last two years. T20 cricket is not about runs or wickets. It's about how much impact can you create," Gambhir told reporters.
"And for both Sanju and Abhishek, I think you can easily sit here and say one got a 50 and the other one got a 100. But for me, I think the biggest positive was when we got a 100 in the Powerplay. That we have never done in my coaching tenure. So I think that was a very clear message that if you're going hard, just keep going hard. That is what the message and that is exactly the message going to be in the future as well - that we still haven't reached 300 [innings score]. So that's probably the next target because the kind of talent we have in the dressing room, we should be doing some incredible things," he added.
Samson was the Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year. However, wicketkeeper-batter was benched after a few low scores on the tour of UK as teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his historic debut in Manchester against England.
While Sooryavanshi failed to make a mark in his maiden series, he earned the Player-of-the-Series award in the subsequent three-T20I tour of Zimbabwe, where Samson wasn’t part of the squad.
Gambhir admitted that leaving Samson out of the side during the England series was the toughest call of his coaching career.
"I think his talent itself is enough for him to be in the dressing room," the coach said. "Someone doesn't become a player of the tournament in a World Cup without not having a talent. So, he's done enough.
"Obviously, it was tough [leaving him out in the UK]. Probably the toughest decision I've taken in my coaching tenure is obviously leaving him out in that England series. Because obviously, the way he's performed before that. But again, sometimes you go with players' form as well."
Gambhir revealed the team wanted to pivot back to their trusted T20 World Cup-winning combinations, citing that a brief run of poor form does not turn established performers into bad players.
"We were always very clear. From my point of view, I was very clear that we want to go back to the combination that we had during the World Cup. Because those guys, after three or four failures, do not become bad players. And the kind of cricket we've played, if a team that has gone unbeaten from one World Cup to the other World Cup and has won the World Cup, I'm sure it's a gun team. Suddenly, it doesn't become a bad team after one or two series. And these guys do not become bad players after two or three failures. That is what these guys have shown here as well."
Samson’s recall meant Sooryavanshi warming the bench during the Afghanistan T20Is. However, Gambhir called it an exercise of patience rather than a setback for the 15-year-old.
"From Vaibhav's point of view, it was again a very clear conversation that he has to wait for his opportunity. We know the kind of talent he has. We know what he can do. But again, someone who's done extremely well over a period of two years, obviously, will always be ahead of someone who's just got into the team.
"So, whenever he gets that run, he will get a longer run as well. And that is what Indian cricket is all about. We want competition. We want that talent in the dressing room. But that's how cricket goes. Whether you're a 15-year-old or a 30-year-old, when you have to wait for your opportunity, you have to wait for your opportunity," Gambhir remarked.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)