Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin believes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should wait for his chance on the ongoing UK tour. Ashwin said we should be patient with Sooryavanshi and argued that if fans want the youngster to be part of India’s playing XI based on IPL performances, then by the same logic, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan also deserves their opportunities.
While Sooryavanshi ended IPL 2026 as the leading run-getter with 776 runs in 16 matches at a blistering strike rate of 237.30, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan scored 732 and 722 runs respectively for Gujarat Titans.
Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Do we have to send three openers at once? Call Shubman Gill as well because he has scored a lot of runs. Sai Sudharsan has also scored runs. Send all five of them together; all of them will play in rotation.”
The former off-spinner said people should not expect Sooryavanshi to straight away replae Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order.
He added, “Why was the whole of India thinking that Vaibhav Suryavanshi was going to play? We have praised him many times, but we need to understand that this is a cricket team. No one makes a team for an individual. What did Gautam Gambhir say? Team first, there should not be any superstar culture. I agree that superstars are great for the game, and it’s easy to sell the game because of them, but what mistake did Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma make?”
The former Tamil Nadu player added that Sooryavanshi can learn a lot by sitting on the bench with the national team.
“There is a lot of value in sitting outside and watching the match. Let him sit outside, service the team, carry drinks; there will be a lot of things to learn from that as well. A great player is not made overnight.”Maybe once Vaibhav Suryavanshi gets playing he will never be dropped. What happened with Sachin Tendulkar could happen with him as well. But my point is, he will get empathy by sitting out. It could be a long serving career for India. Sitting outside is also a role.”
The second T20I between Ireland and India will be played at Belfast on Sunday.
