Former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth has slammed the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team management for completely ruining the confidence of young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. This comes after Sooryavanshi warmed the bench for the first three T20Is between India and the West Indies.

Sooryavanshi, who made his India debut at the age of 15 against England, was the Player of the Series in the last series he played in Zimbabwe. Since then, he has been continuously part of the Indian squad for T20Is against Afghanistan, the Asian Games 2026, and the West Indies.

However, his only outing for India came in the Asian Games 2026, while he was benched for Afghanistan and Windies T20Is, as India has continued with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as their openers.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth feels that the constant chopping and changing by the team management has affected the players' confidence.

"They have not only spoiled his (Sanju Samson's) confidence; India has totally spoiled Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's confidence. He could have been given three matches against a team like the West Indies. Now that they've seen Abhishek for so long, he can be rested, and Sooryavanshi and Samson can open in the next match," Srikkanth said in a YouTube video.

He also questioned Sanju Samson for his poor consistency in scoring runs. After playing three amazing knocks in the T20 World Cup 2026, Samson has struggled with the bat in subsequent series.

“Samson has always been up and down. His consistency has always been questionable. He'll suddenly do wonders like the World Cup and then suddenly fail a lot. Someone like Abhishek Sharma never has such extremes. Now, again, Samson will score in the next match," Srikkanth said.

It remains to be seen whether Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get a chance in the upcoming fourth T20I between India and the West Indies, which will be played in Hyderabad on October 14, 2026.