‘Wouldn’t be a great idea’: Manjrekar sends Vaibhav Sooryavanshi overseas too early

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (BCCI/IPL Photo) NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s sensational IPL 2026 campaign has sparked a growing debate over whether the 15-year-old batting prodigy should be quickly included in India’s senior T20I side. The teenager from Bihar’s Samastipur took the tournament by storm as he smashed 776 runs in 16 matches at a staggering rate of 237.31. He also rewrote the record books by hitting 72 sixes during the season and finished as the Orange Cap winner and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.With Sooryavanshi already part of the India A squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, calls for his inclusion in India’s upcoming T20I series against Ireland later this month have only intensified. Several former cricketers have backed the youngster for immediate promotion to the senior side. India are scheduled to play two T20Is in Ireland from June 26. However, former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar urges caution.“Vaibhav would be next in line after the incumbents, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. But I would like to see Vaibhav play in similar batting conditions as in the IPL, if at all he is picked for India,” Manjrekar told Sportstar.The former India cricketer feels that it would be premature to immediately expose Sooryavanshi to the demanding overseas conditions.“It wouldn’t be a great idea to put him straight into, you know, a foreign kind, a foreign ground like New Zealand, South Africa, overseas. He could go there and repeat what he did in the IPL. But yes, it’s tough when you look at the contenders. Whether it’s Gill or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi up front and we’ll see how it goes,” that’s how it goes organically. he said.Manjrekar also pointed out how quickly perceptions can change in T20 cricket.“A few months and things have changed. Nobody was talking about Abhishek Sharma,” he noted.Although impressed by Sooryavanshi’s explosive batting, Manjrekar said the youngster’s long-term future should be driven by his own ambitions rather than public expectations.“If he wants to be a T20 sensation and focus on T20 cricket, so be it. And he shouldn’t be blamed for that. But then you will only be judged as a phenomenal T20 player. He plays 50-over-50 cricket and I think there is a lot of value in certain conditions to bat in the first 10 overs and do what Rohit 2 World Cup 2 did better than Rohit20 Sharma,” Manjrekar said.The former batsman also highlighted several aspects of Sooryavanshi’s game that stood out during his breakthrough season.“For me, my problem with predicting a certain player’s future, you see the potential. What I take from his performances is phenomenal for someone who’s really young and has a knack for striking, he’s got a great sense of the ball. He’s also got range, as we saw in the last show, you know, he hits it all over the park.”Manjrekar was particularly impressed by the youngster’s fearless attitude and willingness to put team interests ahead of personal milestones.“He got out three times in the 90s. So he’s someone who doesn’t care about hundreds and every time he gets out he plays a big shot. So that’s the thing he likes. If someone is selfless and doesn’t care about milestones, he won’t waste too many balls.”He also noted Sooryavanshi’s maturity in adapting to match situations.“Even in that last playoff game, you could see him, you know, lighten the batting up a bit because Rajasthan Royals were losing wickets. So there’s a lot of things to like.For now, Manjrekar believes the cricketing world should enjoy the teenager’s rise without jumping to conclusions about his future.“But at this stage I can safely say that he has had a phenomenal IPL season. Tremendous batting performances, consistency, high scores and for someone so young, you know, well done. I’m sure he must have been the most dangerous batsman this season for all the opposition.”“And I’m just going to hang in there and see how this story continues to develop,” he said.