Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has advised Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be cautious against unfamiliar bowlers after the third T20I against New Zealand at the Hnry Stadium, Wellington, on Tuesday.
Sooryavanshi, who was promoted as an opener, scored a fine knock of 45 runs off just 19 balls with the help of four fours and as many sixes. However, the youngster was dismissed when he could not time the ball against rookie pacer Matthew Fisher and was caught by Daryl Mitchell.
Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “Unfortunately, he got out to a rookie in Fisher. That’s where Suryavanshi has to watch out a little bit. He shouldn’t immediately take on a new bowler. He should just see what the bowler is doing for two balls. After that, if he plays a similar shot, it will be a six.”
The 1983 World Cup-winning player said Sooryavanshi should play in rotation after three matches.
“He should keep playing once every three matches like this in rotation. You just keep his feet going. He’s going to be the future superstar. When he’s smashing it like this at 15, think of how much he’ll smash it at 21 once he’s experienced. He could have scored a half-century. He hits it everywhere and plays with such courage.”
The former Indian selector hailed the opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after they added 133 runs off just 43 balls.
“This was like cork-ball cricket where the ball flies off the bat. These two batted like it was cork-ball cricket. When two guys are batting like this, what can the opposition do? I almost felt bad for the New Zealand bowlers. They didn’t understand what was going on. Santner didn’t even come to bowl because it was two left-handers. He was like, ‘Leave me alone’ from this carnage,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
The fourth T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday.
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