New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS): India head coach Gautam Gambhir opened up on his conversations with teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and said he made the talented youngster understand “sometimes a player has to wait for his opportunity” despite performing well.
Earlier this year, Sooryavanshi became the youngest Indian to play international cricket against England, making his T20I debut at 15 years and 99 days and surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record. He then became the youngest player to score a half-century in men’s international cricket, reaching the landmark against Zimbabwe at 15 years and 118 days.
However, he did not get any game during the entire Afghanistan series and the one-off T20I against Japan in the build-up to the Asian Games. The 15-year-old batter made his way back to India XI in the Asian Games semifinal against Sri Lanka, where he played a more substantial role in the match, smashing 38 off 21 balls.
“It was a new experience for me as well. Yes, he was in good form, but I made him understand that sometimes, because of the players who have done well for a long time, he will have to wait for his opportunity. And there’s one more thing, social media or outside noise doesn’t decide the playing eleven,” Gambhir said on JioStar.
“It depends on who in that dressing room, or who the coach and captain feel can win us the match, or what is the best playing eleven, and who have done well for such a long time. Because if Vaibhav plays today, then it’s going to be a tough conversation between me and whoever we leave out, whether it’s Abhishek or Sanju.
“So, we can’t suddenly ignore a combination that has created such an impact over the last one and a half or two years, and after three or four failures, drop them and play a young player who is very talented, who is also in very good form. So, sometimes you will have to wait for your opportunity because we want to create that security in that dressing room,” he added.
Sooryavanshi, who made a brisk 15 off nine balls in the Asian Games 2026 final as India defended their gold medal with a 19-run win over Pakistan, became the youngest Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal at the age of 15 years, six months and six days, surpassing shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, who was 16 years, three months and nine days old when he won the men’s 10m air pistol gold medal at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta.
