New Zealand head coach Rob Walter has thrown a challenge to India’s teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and said that he is eager to see how the youngster performs on Kiwi pitches and conditions.
Though the Indian squad for the same tour is yet to be announced, Sooryavanshi is primed to be included in the white-ball squad. However, it remains to be seen whether he gets a game or not, given that he was benched for the recent Afghanistan T20Is.
Sooryavanshi has already scored hundreds in England, Australia, and South Africa, so New Zealand is the only nation where he hasn't played cricket. Rob Walter is eager to watch how the young player does.
“Yes, I’d love to see him on pacy and bouncy wickets and see how different that looks. But he’s an exciting player. You’ve seen him dominate against the world’s best bowlers in the IPL. I think the challenge is always to see how that translates to different conditions and also how we bowl to him in our conditions.
Again, secretly as a coach, you always want to see your players under a little bit of pressure and how we respond to that. So, [I’m] looking forward to it, if that is the case. If he’s not here, they do have a lot of very good players other than him,” Walter said in a press conference, as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
In 2019, the side lost in a 1-2 result in a series consisting of three matches but bounced back strongly in the following year when they swept New Zealand with a 5-0 scoreline. In their head-to-head meetings in the T20Is, India leads New Zealand by a score of 17-11, and they even beat them in the T20 World Cup 2026 final.
“I suppose it is there. No one likes to lose a final. I’ve done it twice, so I know all about it. But I think what comes first is representing the Black Caps and New Zealand well. So you’ve got a group of players who are always trying to do that first. Of course, if you manage to get a couple of victories at home, that would be great,” Walter added.
India will be travelling to New Zealand for five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests later this year.
