Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s coach Manish Ojha has criticised India’s think tank for not giving chances to his pupil amid the T20I series against the West Indies. Sooryavanshi was on the bench in the first three games of the series as Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opened the innings for India.
The youngster recently returned with scores of 38 and 15 in the Asian Games semifinal and final against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, respectively.
After the T20I series against Afghanistan, head coach Gautam Gambhir said in the press conference that Sooryavanshi will need to wait for his chances.
“I feel that the management that is here right now is practicing a kind of dictatorship where whatever comes to mind, they will do,” Ojha said on Sports Now. “This current Indian team management feels that they make players by keeping them on the bench. Sitting on the bench, no player has ever been made, nor will they be.”
Ojha reckons the team management is frustrating Sooryavanshi by keeping him on the bench.
“Either they have made up their mind that this kid will not be given a chance… keep him out and frustrate him so much,” Ojha added. “He is sitting outside and serving water.”
Meanwhile, Sooryavanshi had a breakthrough season for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026, scoring 776 runs in 16 matches of the tournament at a strike rate of 237.10. After an impressive run in the IPL, Sooryavanshi received his maiden T20I call-up for the UK tour. The prodigy batter didn’t make his debut against Ireland but was given his chances against England, though he failed to impress, aggregating only 42 runs in three games.
However, Sooryavanshi scored 151 runs in three games against Zimbabwe and was awarded Player of the Series.
