India are in no hurry to turn Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into an all-rounder, with the stand-in spin-bowling coach Sunil Joshi insisting that the 15-year-old’s batting will remain the team’s primary focus for
the near future.
Sooryavanshi made a strong impression in Harare, smashing an 18-ball half-century against Zimbabwe after previously scoring a match-winning 175 in the Under-19 World Cup final at the same venue. In the latter tournament, he bowled a couple of balls of his part-time spin and took a wicket, too.
At this age, there might be a strong temptation to mould the teenager into an all-rounder. Multi-dimensional players are always welcome in this format, too. The regular head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who’s not part of this series, also has a penchant for all-rounders, which shows even in the Test format, where specialists rule. But the team is satisfied with taking it step by step with Sooryavanshi.
“Let’s focus on his batting. He’s been sensational,” Joshi said ahead of the second T20I in the Zimbabwe series. “This is a happy hunting ground for him. He performed well in the U19 World Cup finals. Vaibhav has been very comfortable with his batting. Whenever we get time we’ll work with him in the BCCI Centre of Excellence.”
India have several part-time bowlers in the batting group. Opener Abhishek Sharma has regularly contributed with the ball in the IPL, while vice-captain and middle-order batter Tilak Varma also sent in some overs in the recent India A tri-series in Sri Lanka.
“I think all three are good bowlers, all-rounders. Abhishek has improved a lot. The coaches always want him to improve every time. Harsh Dubey has also performed well,” Joshi said. “We also have Tilak Verma. In fact, he’s also another optional bowler. We have conversations with him about not giving too many runs, giving more dot balls, and focusing on the basics,” he added.
After becoming India’s youngest men’s international half-centurion, Sooryavanshi will be in action in the second T20I against Zimbabwe on Saturday.
