For all that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already accomplished- and he’s done a fair bit in scoring the most number of IPL runs in 2026, shattering spinners and fast bowlers alike having debuted aged just 13 – the best bright chapter of his cricketing career is about to begin.
What ought to be noted and given much regard is the fact that he arrived much to the attention of an ever scrutinising world in India’s premier franchise based competition when he was barely out of his teen years. At 13, boys are still figuring out their best PlayStation game and here he was coming hard against the best quality spinners and fast bowlers alike.
But whether it’s his destructive abilities and going big from ball number one or hitting someone like the burly Bumrah for an iconic six on the very first delivery he ever faced from the fast bowling great, there are only exclamation marks, no stoppages in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s career.
Given his amazing and freewheeling talent with the bat backed by the ability to never hold back from expressing himself, it could be said that the left-hander has left bowlers bruised, shattered records and justified every bit of the extraordinary excitement that surrounds him.
And yet, despite all that captivating wonder, there stands amid us a very obvious and evident concern featuring the blazing bat from Bihar!
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And it concerns his imminent cricketing place in the Indian side that’s currently in the United Kingdom and at the back of a two consecutive T20 international loss suffered at the hands of Ireland.
Where exactly does Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
fit into India’s T20 plans?
It is easy to forget that his remains a fledgling career. There’s no dearth of talent. On the contrary, he has pretty much everyone- whether Ponting, Tendulkar, Dravid or Matt Hayden raving about him!
And what’s also known is this- that within no time at all – from shattering bowling economy rates in the famous IPL to grinding his way as seen in the recently held India A games against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s earned the faith of
the selectors to turn a place in India’s squad currently in the UK. And yet, wasn’t played a single game as seen recently in Ireland.
But while you may have thought that not getting a game was the predicament, wait till you get your head around how Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finds a spot in the Indian Playing XI against England with 3 preeminent and well established names already in there!
While his maiden India call-up, therefore, was not simply a reward for potential alone and was recognition that had been earned, the big question concerning Sooryavanshi is just how does he fit into a line up that already has firmly established talents in the form of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and forget not, Ishan Kishan.
Forget not Abhishek Sharma found menacing form in the decisive stages of India’s T20 World Cup winning campaign while Sanju Samson was as absolutely on fire all throughout the tournament before smashing a couple of IPL centuries not long after India’s mega success at home. And then Kishan has been making the runs in the shortest forms with much glee and without much ado.
Further down that order, you’ve got Tilak and Shreyas Iyer. Where do you fit Vaibhav Sooryavanshi then, you might wonder.
It’s not even an ordinary puzzle; truth be told, it’s s perplexing one.
In the recent T20I series against Ireland, despite finding a place in the squad, Sooryavanshi never found a place in the playing XI.
Naturally, the debate gathered momentum.
And is likely to rage on if in any of the five match series against England that begins July 1, the blazing leftie doesn’t quite find a spot.
If a batter capable of changing the complexion of a contest from the very first delivery isn’t tried now, then when exactly does that opportunity arrive?
Luckily, we fans who love Indian cricket and are in awe of Sooryavanshi’s compelling batting aren’t up against this baffling challenge and it’s on the to-solve list of some of the elite minds currently in charge of solving this mega query with regard to Indian cricket- Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir!
