This is the right time: Lalchand Rajput on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Lalchand Rajput(PC: X.com)

On Tuesday, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dismissed for 14, playing for India A against Sri Lanka A in the ongoing tri-series in the Island nation. Suddenly there was a bit of a noise. As weird as it may sound, it probably wasn’t unexpected.

Non-achievers revel in schadenfreude and social media gives poison a platform. There would be a section, keyboard warriors, who would like to see the teenager fail at the international level just to have the satisfaction of predicting it right. It’s deplorable, but unavoidable.

Serious cricket minds will obviously not take such trolls seriously, and like Lalchand Rajput said, it would be preposterous to talk down a player as talented as Sooryavanshi on the basis of a few innings in international cricket.

“I feel that a guy who has done so well and then one game you cannot judge it because he has not performed,” Rajput, India’s T20 World Cup-winning coach from 2007 who now guides the UAE team, said, speaking to RevSportz. “So, we have to give him a bit of time. And as a young kid, he will definitely learn. And if he has got so many runs — more than 700 runs (in the IPL) — it’s not by chance. That means he has got some talent in him. So, give him time to explore things and give him that opportunity to show his talent. That’s what I feel. I think one or two games, people should not talk.”

Sooryavanshi had a stellar 2026 IPL season where he scored 776 runs in 16 innings at a strike-rate of 237.30. After selecting him in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said the youngster “picked himself”. Rajput concurred.

“I think this is the right time,” said Rajput. “When a batsman is in form, you got to give him the break. And I think rightly the selectors have given him the break. See, when a guy has performed that well, they (selectors) couldn’t have ignored him to be very honest. They will see how he performs at the national team level in the T20 format.”

Sooryavanshi is a predominantly back-foot player. Everyone knows that. But even in this day of data analysts, video analysts and a host of other support staff, bowlers have failed to contain him, at least at the IPL level.

“International cricket is tougher,” Rajput gave a gentle reminder. “How you come up with new things, new ideas, because as you said, there will be a lot of analysts who will be looking after these things — where we can bowl him, where he is uncomfortable and all those areas. So, as a cricketer, as a batsman, he has to make sure that he is one step ahead. He knows that the bowlers will target there. So, how he overcomes it and that is where the mindset is.”

The good thing is that Sooryavanshi is a quick learner, something that has contributed to his success in the IPL. Rajput agreed.

“He is only 15,” said the former Mumbai stalwart. “I’m sure his learning process will also be quick enough because the way he has adapted to the IPL, I think it’s fantastic.”

Does the veteran coach see a budding Test player also in Sooryavanshi? Does the young man have the defensive game to be successful in red-ball cricket?

“See, we cannot talk on that at the moment because he has played only shorter formats,” opined Rajput. “So, we have to see, because he has got that break now, how he can adjust. And he has to play a season or two in the Ranji Trophy as well in the longer format. If he scores in that format, then I think people will be convinced that yes, he can play in all the three formats.”

This article signs off with a statutory warning. A comparison between Sooryavanshi and Sachin Tendulkar just because of the former’s age is as out of place as it is illogical. Tendulkar was once-in-a-generation player. As regards Sooryavanshi, let the young boy take his own time to get into the international groove. There are certain attributes that stand him in good stead. As Rajput said: “He is a fearless cricketer, he doesn’t play by the name of the bowler. He is one of the most talented youngsters I have seen.

 

Follow REVSPORTZ for more updates. 

The post This is the right time: Lalchand Rajput on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consistent Nicholas Pooran can be world’s top T20 batter

Image
Nicholas Pooran’s carnage against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Image: IPL He has always had a calmness about him. A very West Indian relaxed kind of mindset and demeanour. And having seen adversity, he knows that one needs to celebrate and value the good that comes your way. The urge to keep getting better, and be the best version of oneself, is what defines the new Nicholas Pooran. That’s what came through in the candid conversations we had on the IPL and his own approach to batting. Not overawed by the 21-crore price tag or the weight of expectations, Pooran is simply going about his job. He knows he can hit the ball miles and is keeping it simple. Go and do what you do best for hours and hours at practice, and in doing so, help your team Lucknow Super Giants] demolish opponents. “The best part about this franchise is they have never put me under pressure,” he told me. “When you are paid a lot of money, there is always pressure. Not so much from outside but from within. You know you ne...
Read more

Turning the clock back by 0.12 seconds

Image
MS Dhoni with a stumping dismissal against MI in the IPL 2025 in Chennai (PC: BCCI) The moment of the Chennai Super Kings-Mumbai Indians match lasted less than half a second. It was the 11 th over of the MI innings. Suryakumar Yadav was bringing the batting side back in the game. Noor Ahmad beat him on a forward charge, the ball spun away, and the right-hander’s hind leg got off the ground before he planted it back. That was all MS Dhoni needed to brush the bails off. At a packed MA Chidambaram Stadium decked in yellow and chanting his name, that was the only occasion when Dhoni was in ‘action’. It showed that at 43, his reflexes have not slackened and he has got sharper in plotting dismissals. This one was replayed on TV again and again during the match and commentators couldn’t help but keep talking about it. He had conceded four byes on the leg side in the same over. But this was the Dhoni who elevated stumping to another level. When it comes to waiting for batters to err wit...
Read more

From scoring ton in Patna to taking on bouncers like a ‘bullet’ in Perth – Nitish’s story of perseverance

Image
Nitish Kumar Reddy during the 1st innings of the Perth Test (PC: Debasis Sen) “Grateful, an innings to remember.” Nitish Reddy had posted the aforesaid statement on his Instagram account after cracking his maiden first-class hundred, against Bihar, in Patna. It wasn’t just about Nitish scoring an unbeaten 159 for Andhra. It was also about the way he scored those runs. He essayed a few crunchy drives off Veer Pratap Singh and also showcased his range of shots against Ashutosh Aman, the left-arm spinner, by playing with the turn and also against the turn. This hundred from Nitish came just before the 2024 IPL season, where he accumulated 303 runs. Once again, it wasn’t just about Nitish accruing 303 runs as he accumulated them with a touch of class. Soon, the Indian think-tank drafted the all-rounder into the limited-overs set-up. Although he missed the Zimbabwe series because of a hernia problem, it was crystal clear that the coaching staff had a vision – to pick him for the tour o...
Read more