Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has said that he has watched Vaibhav Sooryavanshi play only on television and it is not appropriate for him to pass a judgment on the same, adding that commentators and experts who watch him from a closer view are better equipped to answer a question on Vaibhav.
Sooryavanshi is in red-hot form in IPL 2026, amassing 404 runs in 10 games, prompting questions over whether he should be drafted into India’s team for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England later this year.
Sooryavanshi’s performances have drawn praise from Pat Cummins as well, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain hailing him as his ‘new favourite player’.
It came as little surprise that Sooryavanshi’s name surfaced at an event headlined by
Kapil Dev. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain was asked to share his thoughts on Sooryavanshi and reflect on how the T20 format continues to evolve with each passing day.
But Kapil Dev sidestepped the question, saying that he was not the right person to comment as he does not follow the game and watches it on television. He added that experts like Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri would be better placed to offer an informed view.
“I don’t know because I have not seen that. I am like you people. Whatever you put on TV, I see and I try to make sense out of that. I watch cricket at home on TV and then giving judgment isn’t correct,” Kapil Dev said while speaking to the media.
“People who talk and see everybody, they are better. Like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, or Harsha Bhogle, they can make more sense than I can,” Kapil Dev added.
Before IPL 2026 started, there were expectations that Sooryavanshi might suffer a dip in form, but he has defied those doubts. He has shown no hesitation in taking on elite bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, dispatching them with remarkable ease.
