Sooryavanshi became India's youngest debutant at 15 years and 99 days during the second T20I against England.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali recently shared his views on India’s rising star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and established opener Abhishek Sharma.
He addressed the comparison by drawing an analogy to the dynamic between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, suggesting that although Abhishek is highly talented, Vaibhav possesses a special X-factor.
Both Vaibhav and Abhishek are known for explosive batting. The teenage prodigy amassed 776 runs at a staggering strike rate of 237.30 in the IPL 2026 season, and became India's youngest debutant at 15 years and 99 days during the second T20I against England at Old Trafford.
On the other hand, Abhishek continued to be a powerhouse in T20Is, having aggregated over 1500 runs at an average of almost 34 and a strike rate of 192.83 in 50 outings. Until last week, he was the No.1-ranked T20I batter in the world.
"Abhishek Sharma is good and is a very good player. But what Sooryavanshi has done is in a different level. It's like Rohit and Virat. Rohit Sharma is a great player but it's like him competing with Virat and he's not going to win that. There's no comparison between Abhishek and Vaibhav at the moment. Vaibhav, the way he does it and the story behind it, is a bigger deal and is in a different league. It's a better story as well," Moeen said on the Beard Before Wicket YouTube channel.
Sooryavanshi scored 14 runs off 10 balls in his maiden international outing, hitting spectacular sixes off premier fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue. He was stumped in the fourth over while attempting to charge down the track and take on Will Jacks.
While Moeen backed Sooryavanshi to become India’s next superstar, he believes the youngster will be challenged in English conditions.
"Hitting sixes in England is different as wind plays a big factor and the wickets are two-paced at times. But in India, these things don't exist. He did well though for a debut game. He has the fearlessness about him so he'll be fine going forward. India have always produced a superstar for the era from Gavaskar to Sachin to Virat. Now it's this guy. He's going to be the one for this era as long as he scores runs. He's doing things already at 15 that no one else has done," Moeen remarked.
India trail the five-T20I series 0-1 after two games. The third T20I will be played at Trent Bridge on Tuesday (July 7).