India’s gun fast bowler Mayank Yadav heaped praise on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after India registered a seven-wicket win against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday. Sooryavanshi scored a blistering knock of 50 runs off 19 balls with the help of four fours and as many sixes.

The youngster brought up his maiden T20I fifty after a difficult start to his International career. The prodigy batter was able to hit the ground running in the run-chase of 126 and a six over long-off while playing on the backfoot was the highlight of his innings.

The 15-year-old batted at the top of his game and took the attack against Richard Ngarava in the second over of the innings.

Mayank Yadav said in the post-match press conference, “His batting is unbelievable. When I bowled to him, he played some shots that you can’t expect from such a young player with so little experience. He always gives you a new experience and it’s great to watch him.”

Yadav reckons Sooryavanshi can go a long way in his career as he has a lot of talent under his belt.

“I think he can go very far because the talent he has at this age is fabulous. I never imagined a 15-year-old guy would come and smash everyone like that. It’s a great feeling to be in his team now because in the IPL, when we were playing against him, he smacked us like anything.”

The Delhi fast bowler reckons it was a very special moment for Sooryavanshi after he had a quiet series against England, where he returned with scores of 13, 14 and 15.

“I think it will be a very special moment for him. He didn’t have very good matches in the last couple of series and now he has got his first half-century for the country. That’s always a very special moment for any player, and especially for a 15-year-old kid. The way he smashed the ball was great.”

The second T20I between India and Zimbabwe will be played at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.