Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays unreal shots: Vengsarkar

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays some unreal shots with his hand-eye coordination, which makes his batting unbelievable, says former India captain and chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar.
Vengsarkar said he is confident that the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi would capitalise on the opportunity once he gets to make his debut on India’s tour of Ireland, followed by England. “I am sure he will get the opportunity, and once he gets it, he will grab it with both hands because he is a very good player. He is just unbelievable,” Vengsarkar, who is on a tour with the Mumbai Cricket Association team to the UK, told PTI in an exclusive interview. “He has tremendous potential. Some of the shots he plays are unreal. His batsmanship is completely different. He can clear the ground with his bat swing and hand-eye coordination. In T20 format, he has been amazing.”

When asked if Sooryavanshi has the potential to play for India in longer formats, Vengsarkar said, “It’s very difficult to say because he is currently in the T20 format. I have not seen him play in a longer format.” “But I’m sure he will do well in that, once picked. We will have to wait and see how he plays in the longer format, which is very important.” Vengsarkar said Sooryavanshi can learn a lot from how Sachin Tendulkar carried himself at a young age.

“When I watched Sachin Tendulkar play, he looked mentally matured for his age. He did extremely well in inter-school tournaments in Mumbai, besides club cricket where he scored consistently,” Vengsarkar said. “He was mentally prepared to play a higher level of cricket, (so) that is how we picked him. He was so disciplined, passionate, and focused, and that is a great example for the youngsters like Vaibhav to emulate.” Vengsarkar backed Shreyas Iyer, who has taken charge of the Indian T20I side, to continue leading from the front.

“He (likes to) lead from the front as he is doing very well as a batsman, and that allows him to call the shots as a captain. He is a very thoughtful captain, and he will do well,” Vengsarkar said.
The former India skipper said batters like Sarfaraz Khan and even Devdutt Padikkal should get more opportunities in Test cricket. “I was really impressed by Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal in the India-England Test match in Dharamsala a couple of years ago. They had an excellent partnership at a very crucial stage of the Test match. They showed excellent temperament and excellent technique,” he said. 

“Sarfaraz is a good player. There is no question about it. But you cannot take a place for granted and you have to be fit all the time.” Vengsarkar said injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya knows how to bring the best out of himself, while adding that Rohit Sharma should be the one to decide on playing the 2027 ODI World Cup. 

“He (Pandya) knows his body very well; how he can utilise that (and) how he can bring the best from himself. It depends a lot on fitness and focus,” Vengsarkar said.  “He (Rohit) has done so well for India and for himself. It’s up to him. He’s been playing international cricket for the last (almost) 20 years and I’m sure he knows the best (on) how to go about things,” he added.