Former India spinner R Ashwin lauded Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s impressive returns in the Zimbabwe series after failing to live up to the billing in his debut series in England.
As India blanked Zimbabwe 3-0, Sooryavanshi emerged as the standout batter in the side, finishing the series with a mature 49-ball 81 with seven fours and four sixes. The short ball had previously emerged as a problem for the 15-year-old in the T20I series in England, where he aggregated scores of 13, 14 and 15 in three outings.
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Ashwin, however, claimed that Sooryavanshi had nothing to alter in his technique to find success at the international level. Comparing the Bihar prodigy to Australia legend Ricky Ponting, Ashwin said: “There was nothing different about him. He is the same player. And there is no need for him to show himself differently. Why do we want that? He is a good player as he is. People spoke about the short ball stuff. Did Ricky Ponting never get out to the short ball?
:We must understand that someone has different strengths and weaknesses. All these things are common. How many times has Vaibhav played Jofra in England before? These are all experiences. We cannot write off anybody just like that. The problem is that expectations from him have skyrocketed, so we want him to perform every game,” he said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin highlighted Sooryavanshi’s ability to adapt rapidly to the slower surfaces in Zimbabwe.
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“I liked the fact that the wicket was a bit slow and the ball was also spinning. He adapted so well. He was going at a much lesser strike rate. He was stepping out and hitting the spinners. All those are very commendable qualities. A small kid can’t hit a spinner while standing on this wicket, so he used his feet. This is a very mature thing. His learning curve is so good that if he sits outside and observes all this, he will become an even stronger player.
“He is going to be a phenomenal player. Let him evolve, give him time.”
Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to win a Man of the Series award as Shreyas Iyer registered his first T20I series win as skipper last Sunday.
