Ryan ten Doeschate has tried to cool the growing clamour around 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, reminding everyone that even the brightest talent “has to go through the same process as everyone else and bide his time and wait”.
The teenager, fresh from a headline-grabbing IPL in which he piled up 776 runs at a scarcely believable strike-rate of 237.30 and walked away with the Player-of-the-Tournament gong, has been drafted into India’s T20I squad. Many assumed he would slot straight into the XI during the current tour of Ireland, particularly after India’s surprise 2-0 defeat, yet the coaches have chosen patience over impulse.
“He’s absolutely ready to play international cricket, there’s no doubt about that,” ten Doeschate said on Sunday. “But also, I think it’s not a question to say you can leave Sanju Samson out. A guy who went a long way to winning India the World Cup three months ago. A guy who’s had a fairly good IPL.”
Samson’s recent form – two golden ducks at the top of the order – has done little to silence those calling for change, but ten Doeschate stressed the importance of consistency inside the dressing-room. “It’s important in terms of giving players confidence, and the message we’re sending to players,” he explained. “We want to give guys a long run in the team. So, you know, as ready as Vaibhav is and as excited as we are and you are to see him play, he’s going to have to go through the same process as everyone else and, you know, bide his time and wait.”
The message is clear: selection will be dictated by incumbents faltering rather than the prodigy’s potential alone. Even in the first match, when India were without a seam-bowling all-rounder – Hardik Pandya is injured and Suryansh Shedge was still travelling – the management resisted the temptation to drop a top-order player and shuffle the pack. Washington Sundar, a spin-bowling all-rounder, filled the gap instead, while Shedge debuted in game two.
For now Sooryavanshi remains with the T20I party only. He is not part of the ODI set-up that follows, although he has been pencilled in for the five-match T20 series in England starting Wednesday, and is also on the preliminary list for the Asian Games later this year. The dual schedule should offer chances; still, the coaching group are determined not to throw him in purely because social media thinks it is time.
Such caution is hardly new for India, a side that likes its debutants to serve a reasonable apprenticeship – net sessions, fielding drills, a few quiet chats with senior players – before the cap ceremony arrives. Sooryavanshi has been spotted putting in extra hours on the outfield and appears content enough. Those close to him say the teenager is level-headed; the coaching staff certainly hope that remains the case if he spends the summer carrying drinks rather than smashing records.
Whether Samson’s form holds will probably decide how long the wait lasts. Cricket, as ever, has a habit of resolving these debates in the middle.
