Former South African skipper AB de Villiers is not sure if Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will pursue Test cricket. AB said the youngster has all the talent to find success in the red-ball format, albeit he will find challenges on the way.
Sooryavanshi recently said that he wants to play Test cricket at the top level. The prodigy batter recently scored 776 in 16 IPL 2026 matches at a rocket strike rate of 232.30, helping him earn his maiden call-up in the T20I squad.
“Yeah, he’s a wonderful talent. The red-ball thing I absolutely cannot answer. I think he can if he wants to, but there’s your answer, and there’s the big question as well is does he really want to? Time will tell. There’s no doubt he’s got the talent and the ability to do so. It won’t always be easy, and I’ve mentioned that a few times before,” de Villiers said on Sunday.
“If he decides to play red-ball cricket, there will be some challenges, but he’s got the skill and the ability to work through that and in my opinion, I hope he does try and play Test cricket, but I doubt it. We’ll see in future,” he added.
The former RCB batter said the Indian selectors made the right call in picking Sooryavanshi for the UK tour.
“It’s definitely the right call from the selectors. So well done to them for making the brave decision. It would have been easy to say that he’s still too young and he’s not ready, and go for more experience. He’s broken down that door, and he deserves his place in the Indian T20 team, so I’m happy for him,” he said.
India will play two T20Is against Ireland and five against England in July.

