Former India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara voiced his worries about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's prospects of making the India playing XI and succeeding right away in strange settings like England. His words came before the five-T20I series between England and India.
India’s batting failure during the 0-2 series whitewash against Ireland has increased the likelihood that the teenage phenom will make a historic debut.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was called up to the national squad for the first time after he set IPL 2026 on fire for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). He was expected to make his India debut during the Ireland T20I series, but he didn’t get to play in Irish conditions.
However, Cheteshwar Pujara believes that when conditions drastically alter, batting cannot be properly translated.
Additionally, he said that he does not currently see Suryavanshi in the starting lineup since the team management will continue to have faith in their T20 World Cup-winning top order, which consists of Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, and Sanju Samson.
"There is a lot of hype around him, and as a young player, he shouldn't be focusing on what is being said about him. I think it is important to keep the outside noise away from him, and the best way to do it is to just focus on the game. I don't think he will get an opportunity straight up.
The Indian team would not want to change their top three, and I don't think Vaibhav will get his opportunity in the first 2 or 3 games. Once the Indian team starts doing well, whenever there is an opportunity in rotation, that is when Vaibhav will come into the playing XI. What he has done in the IPL, it won't be easy to replicate the same thing in English conditions," Pujara said on Star Sports.
Sooryavanshi has experience of playing in England as he toured the country with the India U19 team. He was the leading run-scorer in the ODI series, scoring 355 runs at an average of 71.00 and a strike rate of 174.01.
If Sooryavanshi is included in the playing XI, former England spinner Graeme Swann said that the bowlers will review his batting film footage to devise a strategy against him.
"He is the most exciting player in world cricket at the moment, and I hope he gets the chance to play. I'm not sure you can prepare for a player like Suryavanshi, to be honest, because he is so new to the game. Luckily, he has played in the IPL, so there is video footage, and some of the England bowlers would have bowled against him as well. No one has had any success against him so far; he's proved to be almost unplayable," Graeme Swann said.
Sooryavanshi made 776 runs in IPL 2026 for RR at a strike rate of 237 with one century and five fifties. He also hit a record 72 sixes, breaking Chris Gayle’s record of 59 maximums in a single IPL season.
