The upcoming Duleep Trophy 2026-27 will see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as the vice-captain of the East Zone team, which Ishan Kishan will lead. The Duleep Trophy will kick-off on August 23 with East Zone taking on North East Zone in Bengaluru.
While Sooryavanshi has taken the cricketing world by storm with his stunning exploits in the shortest format, he is yet to prove his mettle in first-class cricket. Hence, the decision to hand the leadership responsibility to the teenage sensation has been questioned by quite a few cricket experts.
Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta has also joined the bandwagon, criticizing the move to appoint Sooryavanshi as deputy of squad, featuring seasoned campaigners like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anukul Roy, Mukesh Kumar and Mohammad Shami.
“I don't agree with this decision. There are players in this team, like Anukul, who have been playing for several years. They could have been given that leadership role. I do agree that, despite being just 15 or 16 years old, he is extremely mature. There's no doubt about that. But I don't think there was any need to make this move at this stage, especially in red-ball cricket,” Dasgupta said on his YouTube channel.
“It is beyond me, absolutely beyond me, that you make someone who has only recently started playing red-ball cricket, and is still very young, the vice-captain of an East Zone team. He hasn't even established himself in red-ball cricket yet. He doesn't have enough numbers at that level, and he hasn't played many matches either. So, just let him play first. Let him establish himself,” he added.
Sooryavanshi has played 8 first-class games so far, amassing 207 runs at an underwhelming average of 17.25 with one half-century.
Nonetheless, Dasgupta expressed his delight at seeing the 15-year-old participate in domestic red-ball cricket rather than playing limited-overs formats exclusively.
“One good thing is that he's playing red-ball cricket. I've always been worried, especially with a talent like Vaibhav, that he might give up red-ball cricket and focus only on white-ball cricket. So I'm very glad that he's playing red-ball cricket and representing the East Zone. But I was very, very surprised by this decision. I don't agree with it. Let him play first. Let him establish himself,” he remarked.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his T20I debut against England at Old Trafford last month. The southpaw failed to make a mark in his maiden series, registering scores of 14, 13 and 15 before being benched in the final game.
However, the young prodigy made a great comeback in the subsequent T20I tour of Zimbabwe, where he bagged the Player-of-the-Series award after amassing 151 runs at a strike rate of 196.10 with two half-centuries in three innings.
