Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his India debut in a T20I match against England at Old Trafford last month. The young prodigy failed to make a mark in his maiden series, registering scores of 14, 13 and 15 before being benched in the final game.
However, Sooryavanshi 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.
Reflecting on his struggles in debut series, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif suggested that Sooryavanshi's introduction in international cricket could have been made easier by the team management.
Kaif believes the teenager should have debuted during the Ireland series rather than waiting on the sidelines and starting in England.
The 15-year-old Orange Cap winner in IPL 2026 was made to sit out and "serve water" in Ireland while management favored other openers.
“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.
“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.
Kaif also pointed out facing a potent bowling attack in England without a prior settling-in period made Sooryavanshi’s transition unnecessarily difficult.
Hailing him as special talent, Kaif backed the youngster to 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,” Kaif stated.
“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 remarked.
