Sachin Tendulkar has said that he, like many others, would love to see Rajasthan Royals’ teenaged wonder Vaibhav Sooryavanshi play Test cricket but warned against rushing him into it. Sooryavanshi has pretty much rewritten the parameters of a good innings in a sensational season in the 2026 Indian Premier League, finishing with 776 runs in 16 innings at a scarcely believable strike rate of 237.30 and average of 48.50 with one century and five half-centuries.
The 15-year-old will win the Orange Cap unless Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan overtake him in the final on Sunday. Both will have to score half-centuries to get there. Tendulkar said that he would want Sooryavanshi to not be put under any pressure whenever he plays Test cricket as this can interfere with whatever it is that contributed to his success thus far.
“I would tell him to just be himself,” said Tendulkar at the Cricinfo Honours. “There is always a first time. In Test cricket, along with age, he will learn how to deal with various challenges. [It’s about] having a solution-oriented mindset. Problems are always going to be there. Problems will be there till the last day of your career, till the last ball you face. The bowler is asking a question every ball. Now, what solutions do you find? He’s kind of a player who looks very confident, very, very sure of what he wants to do and I would not want to play around with his natural instincts.
“The way he sees the ball and the way he responds to that, if that signal is interrupted – if you put a lot of hurdles in between that by telling him multiple things – that’s where the real challenge would be. I would give him the freedom to go out and bat the way he does. Along with time, he will learn to deal with other challenges of the game.”
Tendulkar said he would leave up to the selectors to decide when Sooryavanshi should make it to the Indian Test squad. The teenager has played eight first class games thus far and is yet to make the kind of impact he did in List A and T20 matches. He has scored 207 runs in 12 innings at an average of 17.25 with one half-century.
“Not just me, but everyone would want to see him [playing Test cricket] at some stage. I don’t know when that is going to happen. But an exciting talent needs encouragement. And if he’s doing well, then we need to encourage and support him and enjoy above all and not put pressure on him constantly, you know, he should play this, or he shouldn’t be doing this, or he should be picked in whatever squad. Leave that to the guys [selectors] who are responsible for that.”
