Kris Srikkanth opined that Vaibhav Suryavanshi should be immediately picked in India's squad for T20I cricket after the 15-year-old swept away most of the individual awards following the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, May 31, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The former India opener noted that in Suryavanshi's first full season in the IPL, he has made his presence felt and broken some of the records
held by the legendary Chris Gayle.
"He just has to be fast-tracked to the Indian T20I side. Chris Gayle is way behind him in all categories. There was nowhere even close to him for all the awards. Suryavanshi played his first full season this time only. And in one season, he swept away the awards," Srikkanth said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
For the unversed, Rajasthan Royals' batter Suryavanshi won five major individual awards, becoming the first player to do so. He took the Orange Cap after finishing with 776 runs in 16 matches. He was also the Most Valuable Player (MVP), winning a staggering 436.5 MVP points. The Bihar batter also won the Emerging Player award. The Super Striker of the Season also went his way after he finished the tournament with a mind-boggling strike rate of 237.30. Lastly, he took home the Super Sixes of the Season award, belting a record-shattering 72 sixes during the campaign.
After the final, where the Royal Challengers defeated the Gujarat Titans by five wickets, Player of the Match Virat Kohli was seen speaking to Suryavanshi. Srikkanth believes that this interaction would have helped the youngster to learn a lot from one of the greatest to have played the game of cricket.
"Virat Kohli spoke to him for a long time, which is a very good sign. He would have learned a lot of things from Kohli. Imagine how proud Suryavanshi's parents will feel."
