India head coach Gautam Gambhir has opened up about his conversations with teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and explained why the youngster had to wait for his chance despite being in good form.Sooryavanshi made history earlier this year when he became the youngest Indian to play international cricket. He made his T20I debut against England at the age of 15 years and 99 days, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record.He then became the youngest player to score a half-century in men’s international cricket when he reached the milestone against Zimbabwe at 15 years and 118 days.
Gambhir explains Sooryavanshi’s wait
Despite his early success, Sooryavanshi did not get a game during the entire Afghanistan series or the one-off T20I against Japan ahead of the Asian Games.The 15-year-old returned to the India XI in the Asian Games semifinal against Sri Lanka. He made a bigger contribution in the game, scoring 38 off 21 balls.Gambhir said he had explained to Sooryavanshi that being in good form does not always mean a player will immediately get an opportunity.“It was a new experience for me as well. Yes, he was in good form, but I made him understand that sometimes, because of the players who have done well for a long time, he will have to wait for his opportunity. And there’s one more thing, social media or outside noise doesn’t decide the playing eleven,” Gambhir said on JioStar.
‘We can’t suddenly ignore a combination’
Gambhir said the playing XI is picked based on what the coach and captain believe is the best combination to win a match.“It depends on who in that dressing room, or who the coach and captain feel can win us the match, or what is the best playing eleven, and who have done well for such a long time. Because if Vaibhav plays today, then it’s going to be a tough conversation between me and whoever we leave out, whether it’s Abhishek or Sanju.“So, we can’t suddenly ignore a combination that has created such an impact over the last one and a half or two years, and after three or four failures, drop them and play a young player who is very talented, who is also in very good form. So, sometimes you will have to wait for your opportunity because we want to create that security in that dressing room,” he added.
Sooryavanshi creates another record
Sooryavanshi also played a part in India’s successful Asian Games title defence. He scored a quick 15 off nine balls in the final as India beat Pakistan by 19 runs to retain the gold medal.At 15 years, six months and six days, Sooryavanshi also became the youngest Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal.He surpassed shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, who was 16 years, three months and nine days old when he won the men’s 10m air pistol gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.