Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is currently sitting out of India’s playing XI, but Rob Walter has already thrown down the challenge. The New Zealand head coach, excited by what he has seen from the young Sooryavanshi, is eager to see how the teenager performs on the lightning pitches in New Zealand when India travel for five T20Is in October. India’s squad for the New Zealand tour has yet to be announced, but it is believed that Sooryavanshi will certainly be part of the touring contingent. Whether he gets a game, however, will be interesting to see, given the 15-year-old was benched for all three home games against Afghanistan and the one-off tie against Japan.
Sooryavanshi’s India run hasn’t been as exciting as his exploits for the Under-19 team or Rajasthan Royals, but that takes nothing away from what he has achieved so far. With time, playing for India, he could well surpass his previous accomplishments. As far as New Zealand is concerned, it’s the only country where he hasn’t played cricket – Sooryavanshi has already belted centuries in England, Australia and South Africa – and Walter can’t wait to see how the kid fares.
Sooryavanshi to be tested
“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,” Walter said during a press conference.
“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.”
This will be India’s third tour of New Zealand in the last seven years. In 2019, they lost the three-match series 1-2 but bounced back strongly the following year, sweeping the Kiwis 5-0. In T20I head-to-head matches, India have a 17-11 record against New Zealand, having also beaten them in the T20 World Cup final earlier this year. The wounds of that defeat are still fresh in Walter’s mind, but there’s always a fresh start.
“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.
