New Delhi:Former India batter Aakash Chopra has urged selectors to not rush Vaibhav Suryavanshi into the national side despite the sensational 2026 campaign by the Rajasthan Royals opener. These comments came after the 15-year-old’s another explosive innings in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad that helped Rajasthan Royals to a 47-run win and a place in Qualifier 2.
In the match, Suryavanshi played a blistering knock of 97 runs off 29 balls which helped Rajasthan to control the tempo of the game. Rajasthan scored 243 runs on the board in the first innings, with Dhruv Jurel also got to play an aggressive brand of cricket as well, who made 50 runs. Chopra, speaking on Star Sports after the match, said the teenager was a rare talent and praised the way he handled quality new-ball bowling in the knockout fixture.
"Bowlers have a plan for Vaibhav Suryavanshi and they usually start with yorkers. Vaibhav couldn't get off them initially. But once he got his eye in nothing worked. SRH bowlers looked clueless. It was like they were hit by a tsunami wave. And when a batter like Vaibhav is in that sort of form, there’s little you can do but watch,” said Chopra.
Cummins did his best, but had no answers. Just see the quality, forget age of Suryavanshi for a while. Shikhar Dhawan played one of the best counter attacking innings by an opener in a long time. He was in complete control against a very good attack. The bowlers had designs, but their designs went all awry. That’s the sign of a special player,” the former cricketer-turned-commentator added.
He's only 15. Take your time: Chopra,The clamour for an India debut is growing but Chopra said there should be patience over Suryavanshi’s progression. He feels the World Cup is way too far and though it is an exciting thought to include him, there is no need to change the existing combination of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson who have done nothing wrong.
“We are two years away from the next World Cup. There is enough time. Yes, it’s an exciting thought to pick Vaibhav Suryavanshi for India based on his IPL form. That's for sure, he's special. But you don’t change for the sake of change. Those toppers are Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson at present. You don't swap them out. His India debut doesn’t have to happen tomorrow. It can wait. He is only 15 years old. There’s no hurry,” Chopra said.
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