‘Must wait’: Gautam Gambhir’s message to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as teenage sensation stalks him

The wait continues for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.India head coach Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that the 15-year-old batting sensation will have to be patient for his next opportunity in the senior team, despite the excitement surrounding his arrival and the clamor to see him in action on home soil.Sooryavanshi did not feature in any of India’s three T20Is against Afghanistan, with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma remaining as the opening combination throughout the series. India finished with a commanding 127-run 3-0 victory in the final match in New Delhi on Thursday.Gambhir said the decision was based on the performances of players who had already established themselves, rather than Sooryavanshi’s age or potential.“It was a very clear conversation from Vaibhav’s point of view that he will have to wait for his opportunity. We know his talent and what he can do, but someone who has played for the last 2-3 years will always be ahead of someone who has just joined the team,” Gambhir said at the post-match press conference.The India coach also emphasized that 15 years does not automatically put Sooryavanshi ahead of the established players.“Whenever it starts, it will also be longer. That’s what Indian cricket is about – we want competition and talent in the dressing room, but that’s the way it goes in cricket. Whether you’re 15 or 30, when you have to wait for your opportunity, you have to wait for your opportunity,” he added.

Samson gets support despite England’s challenge

Gambhir also revealed how difficult it was to leave Samson out of England’s India series, while explaining why the team returned to the combination that brought the T20 World Cup in 2026.“I think his (Samson’s) talent alone is enough to be in the dressing room. I think he has shown what he is capable of. You don’t become Player of the Tournament at the World Cup without that kind of talent. So he has done enough,” Gambhir said.“Obviously it was difficult – probably the hardest decision I’ve made in my time as a manager was to leave him out for that England series, given how he’d done before that,” he added.Samson returned the faith with a half-century in the second T20I before scoring another 50 in the series finale, while Abhishek smashed a record 108 off 34 balls.

The World Cup combination remains a priority

Gambhir said India deliberately went back to the opening combination that brought them World Cup triumph and argued that a few setbacks did not render the established players ineffective.“But then again, sometimes you also go with the player’s form. In this series, from my point of view, we were always very clear that we want to return to the combination we had at the World Cup. Because those guys don’t become bad players after three or four failures,” he said.“The cricket we have played – if a team has gone unbeaten from one World Cup to another and won the World Cup, I am sure they are a firing team. They don’t suddenly become a bad team after one or two series and these guys don’t become bad players after two or three failures. That’s what these guys have shown here as well,” added Gambhir.

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Share an opinionSooryavanshi, India’s youngest T20I debutant, scored 42 runs in three matches in England before coming into his own against Zimbabwe where he finished the series as the top run scorer with 151 runs at a strike rate of 196.10 and was named player of the series.