India skipper Shreyas Iyer opened up on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s spot in the team and said that the youngster cannot walk in right now. Iyer was addressing the press ahead of the New Zealand T20I series,
beginning on Thursday, October 22. Sooryavanshi, who made his India debut during England T20Is in July this year, has found himself on sidelines in most of the assignments that followed.
There have been many debates about the youngster’s spot in the team, but it seems that the management is not willing to give him more chances as of now. Earlier, Head Coach Gautam Gambhir also said that Sooryanvanshi would have to wait considering the current opening duo of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma is not only experienced but also been consistent.
Now, Indian T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer has echoed with Gambhr’s message and said that Sooryavanshi would have to wait. “It’s important that a talent like him (Sooryavanshi) should always be happy around the dressing room,” Iyer said on the eve of the first New Zealand T20I.
“He is very young, he has more years to get opportunities. It’s not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently, and they have won the World Cup,” he added.
STORY | It’s not like Vaibhav can walk in right now, our openers are scoring consistently: Iyer
India T20 captain Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday said young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cannot “walk” into the playing eleven just yet as Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are scoring consistently at the top, insisting that the teenager will get his chances in due course.
Since being picked for the England and Ireland tour earlier this year, Sooryavanshi has featured in eight of the 21 T20Is India has played so far, as regular openers Abhishek and Samson have been performing consistently.
Both of them played a key role in India defending their T20I World Cup title earlier this year.
“It’s important that a talent like him (Sooryavanshi) should always be happy around the dressing room,” Iyer said on the eve of a five-match series against New Zealand here.
“He is very young; he has more years to get opportunities. It’s not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently, and they have won the World Cup.”
At the Asian Games, Samson dropped down to number three to accommodate Sooryavanshi, allowing the youngster to open the innings.
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— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 21, 2026
Shreyas Iyer believes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s Overseas Exposure will Help Him in Future
Iyer, however, is of the opinion that bringing Sooryavanshi overseas will help him get a fair idea on how to play in different conditions. “So, if you see, when he is coming overseas, he will get a fair idea how to play on these particular wickets,” he stated.
“Next time, whenever he comes in these conditions, he will be very well-prepared. And he can also instruct the other team members, whoever comes here for the first time.”
“We’ve done that in the past, especially after finishing the Afghanistan series. We went to Ireland, and we got a couple of more matches in between. But it’s fun at the same time to be travelling, playing and getting accustomed to new conditions,” Shreyas Iyer reflected on team India’s back-to-back scheduled series and tours.
“Well, we just want to put the reasons aside and see to it how we would be planning to win. That’s the chat going on inside the dressing room.”
