Sanju bhai showed his character by giving up to open the slot for Vaibhav: Abhishek

Abhishek Sharma has praised Sanju Samson for putting the team ahead of personal preferences and giving up his opening slot to make way for teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during India’s third T20I against New Zealand. The move paid off as Abhishek and Sooryavanshi powered India to a six-wicket win with an explosive opening stand.

Abhishek smashed 113 off just 38 balls, while Sooryavanshi contributed 45 off 19 deliveries as the pair added 133 runs in just seven overs. The 15-year-old was promoted to open the innings after batting at No.3 in the previous match.

Sooryavanshi’s promotion came after Ishan Kishan suffered a groin injury. Samson, who scored 61 in the second T20I to win the Man of the Match award, stepped aside to give the youngster an opportunity at the top of the order.

Abhishek said Samson’s decision reflected his character and highlighted the selfless attitude in the Indian team.

“The way Sanju bhai batted in the last match, it is not easy to leave his familiar batting position. It showed his character, someone goes to his position. We can see in the team that everyone is selfless, everyone is happy for everyone, which is the hallmark of a great team,” Abhishek Sooryavanshi said in an interview mediated by BCCI.TV.

Abhishek, who hit 11 sixes during his explosive innings, also credited Sooryavanshi for setting the tone with an aggressive start. The teenager opened his account with a towering boundary, a shot that immediately lifted the momentum at the other end.

“When Vaibhav hit the first ball, he showed aggression. I saw it at the non-striker’s end and when you see a shot like that you feel pumped up too. So special credit and kudos to Vaibhav for the way he played,” praised the youngster, Abhishek.

The left-hander also spoke about Sooryavanshi’s enthusiasm for batting and joked that the youngster is often difficult to get out of the nets.

“If we have two nets, we give one to Vaibhav and tell him, ‘Vaibhav, you play,'” Abhishek said.

ABHISHEK SHOW IMPRESSES SOORYAVANSHI

Sooryavanshi was equally impressed with Abhishek’s attack on the New Zealand bowlers. The teenager offered a humorous take on the left-hander’s remarkable innings, suggesting the scorecard may have seemed unbelievable to those at home.

“The way Abhishek bhai was playing, they were just thrown out. If the match was not telecast live, then people in our village would have remarked on looking at the score card that it must have been played on the roof,” said Sooryavanshi.

The youngster also explained how he approached the third T20I differently after struggling in the previous match in Christchurch. Batting at No. 3, he managed just four off eight balls and felt he had drifted away from his natural attacking style.

“In the last match, I went against the grain of how I play in T20. During the third match, I wanted to start fast to make it easy,” he said.

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