Vaibhav Sooryavanshi roared back to form in the first T20I of the three-game series between India and Zimbabwe that was played in Harare on July 23. In the chase of a small target, Sooryavanshi smashed a belligerent fifty and received rich praise from former India cricketer Aakash Chopra.
Ryan Burl (26), Wessly Madhevere (39), and Tadiwanashe Marumani (27*) guided Zimbabwe to a comfortable 125/7 in 20 overs, after India quicks rattled the top order. India lost Abhishek Sharma for one run, but Sooryavanshi slammed 4 sixes and 4 fours in his 19-ball 50 knock.
Then Ishan Kishan (35) and Shreyas Iyer (28*) ensured that India won the game with 7 wickets in hand in 13.2 overs. Sooryavanshi became the youngest ever to score a fifty in T20I and international cricket at the age of 15 years and 118 days.
Aakash Chopra praised Sooryavanshi for staying true to his game despite getting dropped from the Indian team after poor outings in three T20Is in the England series. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had aggregated 42 runs at an average of 14.00 in three innings against England.
"There was a wait to see how this boy would play, when he would play, and how many runs he would score. To be very honest, it's only a matter of when, not if, as he would definitely score runs. However, he would have felt a little pressure because he was a part of the team and then dropped. Now he was played again, and you realize that you need to score runs. Since he is 15 years old and probably knows only one way of playing, didn't change his way of playing, which is a good thing," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was praised by Aakash Chopra for displaying a variety of shots in Richard Ngarava's opening over.
"The first few balls with the new ball troubled him, but after that, he just turned it on. The three balls he played in Ngarava's over told me so much about this little kid. He hit a short ball on his body for a six. Harare is a fairly decent-sized ground.
Then, he (Ngarava) tried to bowl full. He didn't move his feet at all and hit a cover drive through the off side with balance. Then, against a slightly short ball slightly outside the off-stump, best of the lot. The six he hit over mid-off showed that the boy is special," Chopra said.
Chopra also expressed optimism that Sooryavanshi will have the same level of success as Abhishek Sharma, who had made his India T20I debut against Zimbabwe, scoring a century as well.
"This is just the start. We will talk a lot about him. That's the kind of player he is. After that, he bent down on one knee and hit a six. There is no doubt that he is an extremely entertaining player. He has finally arrived on the international scene as well. Abhishek started from here only two years ago. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, you never know," he observed.
The second and third T20Is between Zimbabwe and India will be played on July 25 and 26, with Harare hosting the matches.
